The Fourth Era

2007-2010 (The Fourth Era):

 The fourth era kicked off through internet chatter and an announcement by Benny Mouse and the WOW pertaining to the hosting of what was supposed to be a final night of wrestling at an undetermined time. (Note: detailed summaries of the most memorable stories and characters of the era will follow the overview of the era)

The hype for the card escalated to a boiling point that led Mickey and Benny to challenge one another to a match. The spectacle, From Dusk Til Dawn, aired on 5/9th-10th/2008 and lasted roughly 12 hours, featuring the aforementioned Falls Count Anywhere Match with Benny and Mickey, seeing Blaster as the special referee, a special underdog battle royal, and a massive six bracket tournament that crowned Splinter as the first ever Undisputed Champion of the Wrestling World. At the conclusion of the night, Mickey, Shane McMahon and Jeff Murrey submitted a video package that announced the re-formation of the U.W.A. on Independence Day.

 A week later, the EWA (Elite Wrestling Alliance), HCW and UWA partook in a grand draft. There was an agreement forged and facilitated by WOW that this era would only last two years (for the first time in history, an era with a predetermined conclusion). It didn’t take long for the back and forth insults, threats, and overall taunting between the three companies began.

The EWA wanted to get a head start on the competition, announcing their debut for “Revolution”, their new flagship broadcast on Monday Nights. HCW initially planned to debut a week after, but raised the stakes by moving their debut up a week to directly compete with the EWA. Benny – the owner of BWM Inc., and thus the EWA – was outraged about the HCW’s move, though he publicly “welcomed” the challenge.

With the first three classic episodes of “HCW Mayhem”. These episodes completely shocked the wrestling world. The EWA expected a series of blowout victories against the HCW starting with the Premiere episodes of “EWA Revolution” and “HCW Mayhem” on June 16th, 2008.

In truth, “Mayhem” performed much better than expected on the 16th, coming within striking distance of topping “Revolution”. The second week (June 23rd, 2008) was even closer. A fraction of the margin between the two shows from a week earlier, as “Revolution” survived “Mayhem” by the skin of Benny’s teeth.

Needless to say, by the time the third encounter came on June 30th, 2008, Benny and the rest of the wrestling world was bracing for impact. This was the last showdown between HCW and EWA before the UWA returned to Monday nights on July 7th, 2008. On the third encounter, the landscape changed completely when John Brown took his leap into history by completing his transition from being the butt of every Ric Venom joke in the USWA to being a main player.

In the final year of the Second Era (1997-2002), Brown’s HCW served as mere supporting antagonist characters in the Allegiance invasion storyline in USWA. Throughout the Third Era (2002-2005), the HCW served as a source of developmental recruitment for Mickey’s UWA-Southern Division.

However, the second class status of the HCW – which was already called into question with their surprisingly awesome performance at the inaugural “From Dusk Til Dawn” in May of 2008 – was shattered completely when the momentum carried Brown and his Hardcore brand of wrestling to an historic victory streak which started on June 30th, 2008.

By the end of the unique and competitive Fourth Era, the HCW stood tall with the most ratings victories, and that started with the first three classic episodes of “HCW Mayhem”!

Initially, the UWA had a game plan which was meant to mirror the initial game plan of the UWA in the Third Era’s outset in the fall of 2002 when Jeff Murrey seduced Mickey into believing that they were going to crush the UWF together by having two separate shows tears the UWF apart on a weekly basis. While Murrey had let Mickey down with months of the UWA’s initial launch in 2002, Mickey was determined to follow through in the “Second Coming” of the UWA in the Fourth Era.

This stroke of supposed genius – in the eyes of Mickey, of course – led him to revive Murrey’s WWF and his own USWA as “sub-promotions” within the UWA. Mickey named Murrey as the “Promotional Administrator” (P.A.) of the WWF sub-promotion and Vince McMahon as the P.A. of the USWA. The goal would be to have separate Monday broadcasts every week, with USWA Monday Massacre and WWF Monday Night Raw each competing against each other as well as HCW Monday Night Mayhem and EWA Revolution. Mickey thought this was ingenious because it would permit him to conceivably have the two top-rated Monday Shows every week.

Also, Mickey had two sets of Championships. WWF had the WWF Title, Intercontinental Title, and the Hardcore Title. USWA Had the USWA Title, United States Title, and the Deathmatch Title. UWA overall had the Tag Team Titles, the Women’s Title (revived for the first time since the Second Era after the EWA created the “Knockouts” Division), and the UWA Title.

The twist about the UWA Title was that the USWA and WWF Champions were at first slated to compete every three months to determine the UWA Champion. This was quickly changed to making the champions compete at each of the UWA’s “Big Four” Pay Per Views: Oblivion (in March), SummerSlam (in August), Survivor Series (in November), and Motivation (in December).

The UWA was “reborn” on July 4th, 2008 with the “Second Coming” Pay Per View, which became the highest-rated “Opening Day” event up to that point. The one downside, though, was that critics maligned – led, most notably, by EWA’s Chris Hyatte – the Battle Royal which crowned Terry Austin – Steve’s younger brother (in this Universe) – as the first USWA Champion of the new era, and he eventually went on to become the First UWA Champion as well at SummerSlam. Critics were polarized about this, as the traditionalists – who also hated the original USWA’s hyper-chaotic and relatively unpredictable design which proved extremely successful at the time – attacked the idea that Terry Austin could effectively debut on the Main Event stage and become world champion without the people being given a reason to believe his ascendance.

Unfortunately for Mickey’s plans of ratings supremacy, this criticism influenced a significant number of fans to turn the channel whenever Terry showed up on television (he wouldn’t be redeemed until years later in another era), which cost the UWA the ratings battle more often than not. It also helped spell the premature demise of the plan for the UWA to compete against itself. Mmouse Enterprises voted to scrap the internal Monday Night War within six months of launching it, replacing it with a new plan to have Raw and Massacre air on alternating Mondays with a new show – UWA’s The Asylum – occasionally airing every so often to merge the rosters the create a simulated feeling of a mini-PPV.

In truth, the plan for Asylum to unite the brands actually worked in the Spring of 2009 as the UWA started more consistently winning ratings battles (this was also helped by the fact that the EWA eventually became plagued with an unpredictable schedule, more on this momentarily). Massacre and Raw also experienced some more victories along the way, but the HCW still served as the dominant promotion throughout.

The UWA had preset the date of July 4th, 2010 to be the last PPV of the UWA; called “Sundown”. This was among the highest rated events of the Era, and deservedly so. It received rave reviews for how it wrapped up the primary stories of UWA. While the UWA fell short of its goals in ratings dominance, including in the one area where it remained untouched in the 2nd and 3rd Eras – PPVs -, this was the PPV which redeemed the image of the company, with an epic sendoff in the Main Event to crown the final UWA, USWA, and WWF Champion between Dragonfly and Blaster (which Blaster won, after Mickey betrayed Dragonfly).

Looking over at the EWA, or BWM Inc.’s involvement in the era, the first loss to HCW shook Benny Mouse to his core and rocked the Board in his company. There was a brief si-saw battle between Benny and John Brown in the ratings until the EWA abruptly stopped holding events in late-July, leading the UWA to become the primary opponent for HCW in the absence of EWA. After a few weeks hiatus, Benny returned to action, excusing his absence by claiming to have been involved with the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

EWA returned for about a month uninterrupted until they hit another snag. After a short while of another absence, Benny claimed that he was trying to help the McCain Presidential Campaign that year in its closing weeks, so all of that meant that he couldn’t permit the EWA to appear weekly without him at the helm.

Leading up to the first interpromotional PPV since “From Dusk Til Dawn” – called “Diplomatic Deficiency”, which also hosted the 2009 WOW Award Show -, EWA became more consistent until after that PPV aired. However, when they disappeared again for a few weeks the HCW and UWA Board Rooms began to call the EWA the “Erratic Wrestling Alliance”, a nickname which would haunt the company until it folded in early 2010 after having been mostly absent throughout 2009.

In the interim, WOW announced a Second Installment of “From Dusk Til Dawn”, taking place in September 2009. This massive PPV wound up clocking in at around six hours. The build-up for this show led to the EWA being more consistent than at any point since their first month and a half in the era, especially since the headlining match was a rematch between the greatest icons in the history of the business: Splinter and Slammu (more on this in the detailed summary of the feuds and characters of the era).

Following “From Dusk Til Dawn 2009”, EWA never again had a consistent schedule in the Fourth Era. This created the groundswell for Benny’s decision to scrap everything and start all over…again. In September 2009, Benny relaunched the promotion which put him on the map in the Second Era: ECW. There was some buzz about the return of ECW, but this announcement was eventually overwhelmed by Joey Styles – a former ECW Commentator – launching his own promotion (with some secretive backing by WWF P.A. Jeff Murrey), called TNA. A brief feud was sparked between TNA and ECW, which led to the two promotions merging to become “ECW: TNA”. Unfortunately, this promotion was very short-lived (with a lifespan just barely longer than the brief WWO promotion which aired in January 2005). ECW wrapped up BWM Inc.’s role in the Fourth Era with little more than a whimper after the EWA had started so strong.

HCW – on the other hand – hardly lost its steam. The company that was never expected to be competitive against Benny and Mickey outsmarted and outperformed both in sound fashion. It’s widely agreed upon that the Fourth Era belonged to the HCW, despite it being the second most competitive era in history at the time. HCW never skipped a week of action, hosting 101 total Monday Night Mayhems, and 13 PPVs (they held a PPV every other month from Tumultuous Iniquity 2008 through Tumultuous Iniquity 2010).

It’s because of HCW’s excellent PPVs that the UWA was unable to dominate the ratings in the one area where it had ALWAYS been the best since the Second Era. HCW’s PPVs were always the highest rated, but they were more often not. Arguably, the HCW reached its peak in February 2009, with their “Bloodshot” PPV which featured the iconic heel turn of Rhyno as he betrayed HCW to join Scott Nash in the NWO in a storyline that shouldn’t have worked since it revived a relic of the Second Era, but it worked in sound fashion, solidifying HCW as the premier wrestling promotion of the Fourth Era for the remainder thereof.

After that point, EWA was unable to compete with HCW’s chaotic and hilarious style which brought back memories of the USWA’s style (more on that at the end of this analysis). UWA would become a better and more consistent competitor against HCW starting in the Spring of 2009 and through to July 2010, but it was always clear which company was the best, given the consistent record of dominance.

The HCW wrapped up the Fourth Era in August 2010 with the final installment of “Tumultuous Iniquity”. John Brown successfully solidified himself as one of the great promoters in the history of the industry and not just some small-time promoter kicked around by the big wigs. Brown will now forever be recognized alongside Murrey, Mickey, and Benny as a giant among men.

Noteworthy Characters/Stories of the Fourth Era:

EWA/ECW/TNA Notable Stories and Characters –

Christian/Splinter = The EWA kicked off in 2008 with a feud over the WOW Undisputed Championship, which Splinter won at the Inaugural “From Dusk Til Dawn”. Christian and Splinter’s feud carried on for a number of weeks until around the time that EWA’s first experience with being “erratic” began. Splinter wound up dropping the gold to Christian and this defeat started Splinter down his dark path which eventually turned him heel. The EWA Championship was unified with the Undisputed Championship with Christian’s victory over Splinter, which catapulted Christian into being a main event superstar!

Splinter/Krusader = In late-2009, Krusader was traded to BWM Inc.’s EWA, but the company was converted into the ECW just as he arrived on the scene. Krusader had an ax to grind against his old nemesis from the First Era: Splinter. Krusader turned heel and started playing mind games with Splinter, insisting on one final match. After weeks of torment and an unsanctioned encounter, Splinter finally agreed to the match at From Dusk Til Dawn 3. However, the event didn’t take place in 2010 as originally planned (it didn’t take place until 2019), and the standoff was never resolved.

Athena Starr/Jesse Hash = Athena Starr (a small barbie) and Jesse Hash (a TNA Jeff Hardy figure) were a pothead couple which hosted “4:20” during EWA programming. Starr and Hash eventually had a falling out by the end of 2009, after Starr had an affair with Christian. This heel turn would lead to Starr becoming the first ever woman to hold the Undisputed Championship – when she defeated Hash for it following a chair strike by Christian that was meant for Starr -, which she lost to Metalhead by the end of the era.

Randy Orton/Metalhead = At the beginning of the 4th Era, Metalhead assembled a group which he called the “Legacy”. Orton was his primary protégé, but Orton and Metalhead saw their relationship shatter as Orton’s ambitions got in the way of Metalhead’s determination to get back on top. After Orton became the first ever EWA champion, Metalhead grew jealous until the point, but Orton beat him to the punch, making Metalhead one of his first “legendary” victims. As the era progressed and the EWA was replaced by the unique ECW-TNA, Orton went on to feud with the Hart Foundation (via the Legacy) and Metalhead went on to destroy Athena Starr in a match wherein he became the Undisputed Champion of the world!

Natalya Neidhart = Natalya was barely present as a Knockout in EWA (and that was far from her fault), but when Benny resurrected the ECW, Natalya quickly rose to the top and became ECW’s first ever and last women’s champion.

Teo/Attitude = When the Fourth Era began, Teo and Attitude were slated to fight at “From Dusk Til Dawn” in an unsanctioned encounter. After the show and the mediocre reviews for the fight, HCW shocked the world by drafting Teo and Attitude (Benny reportedly freaked out over this). In HCW, the momentum was building for a proper Teo and Attitude redo, and the intensity between these former team mates built for months from HCW’s Fourth Era launch through the fall. It looked like HCW would slate Teo and Attitude for a match at their December PPV, but then EWA offered John Brown’s HCW a trade that they couldn’t refuse: Teo and Attitude for Rhyno. Brown felt that he couldn’t pass up the chance to get his favorite mega star back into HCW, so he willingly handed Teo and Attitude’s contracts over to EWA. Benny was reportedly desperate to prevent HCW from delivering on an iconic feud which started under his watch. So, he continued the story on EWA’s erratic time, and with most of the build having happened on HCW television, all Benny had to do was schedule the PPV encounter. The match itself was not bad, but it didn’t live up to expectations, which made it the most disappointing non-climactic conclusion to a story in EWA’s history (this is why the feud was resumed later on in history). The two of them would later seek to wrap up their feud in the ECW, wherein Attitude won at the final ECW PPV, but the fans were still left wanting more.

Cody/Ted Dibiase J.R. = The additional members of the “Legacy”, being protégés of Randy Orton after he split with Metalhead. Unfortunately for the two of them, Cody and Ted paid a price from the dual problems of EWA’s irregular schedule and the mockery – by critics – of Cody’s appearance. The chief thing that the “haters” like to mock Cody for was his ears, as jokes were made that EWA was regularly not broadcast because Cody’s ears weren’t working properly to send the signal. Poor Ted Dibiase J.R. never recovered from this guilt by association throughout the doomed era for them. Despite these setbacks, the Legacy did get involved in one significant feud in ECW-TNA with the Hart Foundation which the Legacy won at the end of ECW-TNA/EWA part of the era.

The Miz = When he first debuted, EWA had a lot of hopes for the Miz, but a handful of critics and fans hated him so much that they actually turned the channel. This was irrespective of his actual mic and in-ring talents. Unfortunately, the Miz suffered a number of booking set-backs as a result and was another victim of the erratic schedule. Even so, Miz did enjoy a brief stint in ECW-TNA when he competed for the Number One Contendership for the Undisputed Title against Metalhead.

Mr. Kennedy = Like Miz, Cody, and Ted Dibiase J.R., Kennedy was another star that EWA wanted to introduce, but he not got off the ground. It was obvious that he was talented, but he lagged in some viewership, and the EWA issues killed any effort to help him grow.

Doink the Clown = Doink was introduced in TNA in early 2010 during the short stint of TNA through the short-lived partnership with the short-lived revival of Benny’s ECW. Doink arrived promising a revelation that would shake the industry, supposedly involving a lawsuit of sorts with Mickey’s UWA. It alleged a scandal, but with Mickey being a larger than life personality whose reputation was rocked by so many scandals (including the alleged murder of his father, on two occasions…more on that shortly), it is safe to say that this revelation was nothing more than a ridiculous attempt by a literal clown to gain some brief ratings.

Joey Styles = ECW Alum who reemerged to run TNA just before the ill-fated merger with Benny’s ECW.

Sean Olson = EWA handled him as well as they could during their erratic schedule. Olson dominated the main event scene throughout the era, feuding with Orton, Splinter, Hash, and Christian, but the World Title eluded him, because of the lack of time to successfully pursue it.

Kevin Kelly/Princess Kevina Love = The long-time ringside commentator who had always remained loyal to Benny extending back to the ECW days of the Second Era, Kevin Kelly had underwent a major identity transition which started in 2004 when Kevin was French kissed by UWA’s Lady Love during a joint-promotional show. From that point through the Fourth Era, Kevin gradually started changing publicly from being recognized as “Kevin Kelly” to insisting that everyone refer to her as “Princess Kevina Love”. Kevina reportedly never got over her crush on Lady Love, even going so far as to scowl at Ric Venom from UWA as Ric entered into a serious relationship with Lady Love.

Frank Dutch and Dave Matthews = In the Fourth Era, EWA introduced two new interview personalities: Frank Dutch and Dave Matthews. Frank talked in a very monotone voice and always insisted on telling his joke that “My name is Frank, and my last name is Dutch”. Dave Matthews always reminded you that he was “not to be confused with the famous singer, songwriter [Dave Matthews]”, and he was always polite enough to remind everyone that he was the only interviewer that offered his guests a chair (that no one ever accepted).

AJ Styles = The first ever X-Division champion in EWA, Mr. Styles first burst onto the scene in the Fourth Era via EWA. The man displayed his incredible talents in the ring every time EWA was on the air (Benny never let AJ go to waste). This led to him capturing the EWA Championship, which was also unified with the Undisputed Championship by that point. Later on, Styles captured the ECW title during its very short-lived stint in 2010.

Big Show/Sonjay Dutt = The Big Show found a new tag team partner in EWA, but it was a bit rough in the beginning. Since the retirement of Saguna in 2005, and with Big Show’s drafting to the EWA in 2008, Big Show was left without his old “Little Man, Big Man” tag partner. That’s where Sonjay soon came into the picture. With Sonjay’s singles career lagging, he latched on to Big Show and the two of them created the successful “New Little Man, Big Man” team.

Benny, His Entourage, Molly, Rhyno and Jane = Benny Wade Mouse, The Establishment (Recon and Sniper), and Rob Amick (Benny’s Chief of Security) continued in their near-looney ways in the Fourth Era. Benny tried excusing the erratic nature of his company by pointing to his forced involvement in the 2008 Summer Games, the McCain Campaign, and even the Stock Market Crash. The Establishment and Amick remained as incompetent as ever, but loyal to a fault. Jane Mouse – Mickey’s slutty ex-wife who had previously cheated on Mickey with Lenny and Vinny – wound up in an affair with Benny (who married Molly in 2003). Jane would get pregnant by Benny – naturally causing marital problems between Molly and Benny -, but the pregnancy tragically ended in a controversial miscarriage caused by Rhyno. Rhyno had been getting intentionally sporadically booked by Benny since the draft (though, Rhyno still had some decent matches and a couple short-lived feuds, but he was kept out of the title picture as a serious contender), as Benny only drafted him to keep him away from HCW. This classic “star vs boss” story culminated at WOW’s Joint-PPV “Diplomatic Deficiency” in November 2008 when Benny created so much rage for Rhyno that he tried to Gore Benny, missed, and accidentally Gored the pregnant Jane! Benny “fired” Rhyno despite the fact that he had secretly traded Rhyno to HCW in exchange for Teo and Attitude. Reportedly, Benny allowed this tragedy to take place as a last ditch effort to ruin Rhyno’s reputation as he went to HCW where he would undoubtedly be put in the main event scene. Benny never again entered into a major feud-like role for the rest of the era as he spent the remainder thereof battling for his marriage and then publicly facilitating the transition to ECW-TNA.

Benny/Heyman/ECW Controversy = Going as far back as the Second Era, Benny had a business relationship with industry visionary Paul Heyman. Heyman started the ECW back in 1996, and the company initially had the same degree of success at the time as John Brown’s HCW. However, Benny Mouse eventually left the shackles of Mmouse Enterprises and saw potential in ECW. So, after investing a large sum of money into Heyman’s project, Benny sought to make it competitive. Throughout the era, ECW would fold and start up again a handful of times, getting better each time until its last swift transition at the end of the Second Era led to it converting to the last incarnation of Benny’s WCW, and then ultimately to the UWF powerhouse which emerged just as the Second Era and USWA came to a close. Since ECW had remained on the shelf since 2002, Benny decided to try and spice things up in the closing ten months of the Fourth Era, mostly to take the dominant HCW to task. Benny was caught off guard when he found out shortly after reviving ECW that Heyman had made a serious effort to reclaim what he had created. This power struggle contributed to the weaknesses later exploited by Styles and TNA when they invaded as well as Benny’s efforts and success in merging with TNA. At the close of the era, Benny won full control of ECW from Heyman, ending the controversy for good.

UWA Notable Stories and Characters –

Method/No Limits/New Supremacy = In the beginning of the Fourth Era, the disgraced racist former leader of Southern Justice and one half of the former multi-time tag champions, The Supremacy, John Godwinn struggled to find a partner. However, he found a way to make a new superstar his protégé. The unwilling 8-Ball, who was never a racist, found himself a new target of the persistent Godwinn, who tormented 8-Ball for weeks trying to recruit him for a “New Supremacy”. Godwinn was especially insistent upon creating this new team as he saw the rise of Method, the tag team led by Bad News Brown, which rose to become Tag Champions. Eventually, Godwinn found a way to force 8 Ball to join him as Godwinn’s crusade against Method commenced through to them dethroning Method and eventually finding themselves faced with a new threat: No Limits (Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer). They would trade the gold with Dreamer and Burke a few times before 8 Ball finally found a way to escape Godwinn, even if it meant ending his own career.

Duct Tape Men/Masked Phenom = During the Second and Third Eras, Shane Murphy and Vinny Mouse ran three subsequent independent promotions. First, there was Shane’s SMW: Shane Murphy Wrestling, which emerged when Shane Murphy and Ric Venom worked together to crash Benny’s WCW in 2000. Then, there was the EWF, Vinny’s Extreme Wrestling Federation which arose shortly thereafter. Finally, there was the NWA (National Wrestling Association/Alliance), which was basically jointly ran by the two of them, but it was a talent development company for the benefit of Benny’s UWF from 2003 through 2004. Masked Phenom was introduced in the Second Era and became popularly known in ECW before he was traded to MMouse Enterprises (parent company of USWA/UWA/PWI). Before he was traded, though, he was caught up in a hilarious feud with the Duct Tape Men. Masked Phenom would escape them for a long time as a result of being traded to the USWA. However, that curse of the Duct Tape Men later caught up with him when Uno and Dos found him in the Fourth Era UWA. Upon the reunion, Masked Phenom had to battle them one more time as they tried to recruit him as Tres (a position they later filled anyway).

Business Man (and the Duct Tape Men) = Harry Puddphucker was a business representative hired by Mickey to help run things in the UWA in the Fourth Era. Mickey called him the “Business Man” because he hated Harry’s real name. Harry dealt with Mickey’s dirty laundry. At one point, Harry caught the eye of the Duct Tape Men. Uno and Dos made it their mission to torment him, and this carried on for most of the era, as Harry used his clout to get them fired. Then, they came back as the Electric Tape Men (Un and Deux) and then the Shiny Tape Men (Einz and Zwei).

Catherine/Blaster/Mickey = During the Third Era, Blaster and Catherine had an affair which was forbidden by Mickey and which resulted in a pregnancy. When the Fourth Era began, Blaster and Catherine crossed paths again, but Blaster was frustrated because of Catherine being distant since 2005. Catherine revealed to Blaster that she aborted their pregnancy and the later part of the era was defined by Catherine trying to end Blaster’s storied career in one way or another. In the end, Mickey and Blaster made amends as Mickey sought to prevent his daughter from corrupting the era’s conclusion.

Dragonfly/Sunfire = A dream match which never happened in the Third Era despite the mega star-power of both UWA stars at the time was a match between Dragonfly and Sunfire. During the Third Era, Sunfire was immensely popular, but he never rose to World Championship contention, which was where Dragonfly ruled for most of the time. As the Fourth Era began, Sunfire was absent, having been presumed retired by many since the Third Era concluded. Then, out of nowhere, he returned in late 2008 to widespread acclaim! He was instantly mentioned as a main event attraction and it didn’t take long for he and Dragonfly to cross paths and the conversation about an epic encounter between the two to start. However, there was a twist, as the two initially found a common purpose in creating the dominant tag team: The Icons. Naturally, considering their mega-egos, the team was destined to implode, and it did! They finally had their long-awaited encounter at the Fourth Oblivion, which turned out to be the best match of the night, resulting in Sunfire scoring the victory! Sunfire went on to become the 2009 UWA King of the Ring and then defeated Dragonfly again for the UWA Championship, which he held for three months! Dragonfly later regained the gold by defeating Slammu for it and holding the belt for over 6 months until Blaster beat him for it at Sundown. Dragonfly and Sunfire arguably carried the UWA in the Fourth Era and their feud endures as one of the all-time greats!

Krusader/Terminator = In the First Era, Terminator and Krusader had a legendary rivalry in Murrey’s WWF. Terminator retired by the end of the Second Era and hadn’t been heard from since before the turn of the century. That all changed when Terminator made a surprising return targeting Krusader in 2008. The old foes battled it out throughout late-2008 and the first half of 2009. Krusader wound up winning out in the end, capturing the UWA Championship in a triple threat match where he and Terminator challenged the Rock for the gold after they eliminated each other in the Royal Rumble a month earlier. The score was settled with Krusader on top as he left UWA in 2009 after working for Mmouse Enterprises since 1998 back when he was traded to the USWA.

Maniac/FRED = In the Fourth Era, Maniac experienced a bit of a reboot. This was largely inspired by the immense popularity of HCW’s Edge (no, remember that this is not Adam “Edge” Copeland, but an insane character named “Edge”. Adam Copeland’s “Edge” was actually called “The Edge” in this universe, and Adam Copeland is actually a separate character altogether here…yes, we are weird with this, but I digress). Maniac captured the UWA Title, taking it from Terry Austin, but Maniac’s monstrous “son” FRED destroyed him for the title. The feud leading up to their match for the gold was meant to tie up loose ends left over from the Third Era, and it also served to pave the way for a long-awaited feud between FRED and Dragonfly.

RVD/The Rock/Million Dollar Corporation = As the Fourth Era began, The Rock and Rob Van Dam were thrown back together at “From Dusk Til Dawn” to rekindle their old UWF tag team for the epic tournament which crowned the first ever Undisputed Champion. The two of them stayed together as a team after being drafted to the UWA, but their old problems soon flared back up again and broke down into an all-out war. This led to the two of them both capturing the world title in the same night, with the Rock seizing it from RVD. The Rock had one of the longest world title reigns in the Fourth Era after he captured the championship in late 2008 he wouldn’t drop the gold to Krusader until the Fourth Oblivion in the Spring of 2009. In the interim, the Rock feuded with the resurgent, evil legend, the Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase. Dibiase created a newfound “Million Dollar Corporation” which he utilized to try and test the will of the Rock throughout his reign. Dibiase’s favorite weapon turned out to be Bam Bam Bigelow, who captured the USWA title from the Rock a night after the Rock lost the UWA title to Krusader. Still, by the end of the Era the Rock tasted success one more time when he and RVD reunited and became the final UWA Tag Team Champions!

Terry Austin/Steve Austin = Without a shadow of a doubt, the most controversial and polarizing moment in the Fourth Era was when Terry Austin won the battle royal to become the first USWA Champion in six years. Wrestling critic Chris Hyatte especially hated this reign, but Steve Austin grew even more jealous of his younger brother than Hyatte did. Steve tried to form a tag team with his brother, but that didn’t pan out since Steve’s real goal was the world title strapped to Terry. Steve ended up playing a pivotal role in Terry losing the gold and the two feuded for months after. Unfortunately, what should have been a feud to catapult Terry’s name into superstardom was irreparably tainted by the unpopular reign of Terry as USWA and UWA Champion. Terry’s career never rebounded from this in the Fourth Era as he was cast away into the abyss of jobber status.

Return of Phobe, Giant Gonzales, and Slammer = As the Fourth Era started to wind to a close, Mickey brought back the iconic Slammer (who had last been seen in 2005) and the legendary giant: Phobe (who hadn’t been seen since 2002). The two of them came in as a shock to the world alongside the also-returning Giant Gonzales (who had been out of action since a devastating injury in the UWF in 2003). Their returns didn’t have enough time to produce new opportunities for any of them since there were only a few months left to the era at the time. Slammer only wrestled once and lost to Phobe in that match, and Gonzales experienced some moderate success as well as a short stint in the main event picture.

The DWO = In 2009, the Heartbreak Punk (HBP) and the Heartbreaker (HB) reunited when HB came out of retirement. They reformed the HBKs to take on the tag division. Over the course of the final year, though, HBP and HB felt that they had to revive the old Degenerate World Order which had existed briefly in the final months of the USWA in 2002 after the NWO and DX merged at the time. This led to comedic antics aplenty as the era came to an end.

Return of Hells Fury = Soultaker and Keeper also experienced a reunion in 2009 as they came together for the first time in almost a decade to again dominate the tag division.

Leonardo/Michelangelo = Leonardo hadn’t been a major star in the industry since the First Era under the WWF banner. Back then, all the focus was on him as Intercontinental Champion and on Raphael’s repeated pursuits of the WWF title. With Raphael retired, Leonardo decided to take another crack at it. However, Mickey felt it was a great decision to make Leonardo tag with his younger and more childish brother, Michelangelo. Leo and Michel struggled as a tag team for a while and Michel always seemed to get in Leo’s way. This led to a break up and a great brief feud between them. However, both wound up being successful in their single’s careers with the two of them enjoying singles title runs!

Elijah Burke/Tommy Dreamer = When Elijah Burke became the latest racist target of John Godwinn, Tommy Dreamer proved useful as a tag partner in their team “No Limits”. The team enjoyed some success until Burke realized that he had a great deal of potential. The team broke up and Burke went on to enjoy a strong mid-card push.

Kevin Nash’s Immunity = At the outset of the Fourth Era, Kevin Nash enjoyed some recognition as a force to be reckoned with. With his brother Scott having been drafted to HCW, Kevin was seen by Mickey has the “next big thing”. Kevin wound up winning the Immunity Championship and used it to his advantage for a short while until…nothing. Many critics felt that he was rising straight to the top, but Nash was overshadowed by the likes of Dragonfly, the returning Sunfire, Rock, RVD, and FRED. Nash’s reign wallowed in nothingness for months as he did nothing with the privilege. This reign was widely and rightly criticized as the second greatest missed opportunity of the Fourth Era, next to the Teo v. Attitude showdown in EWA.

E-Dawg = For decades, Secretary “Dr.” Evil was a loyal executive in Mickey’s infamous Cabinet. He was reliable for chiming in with his occasional “riiiight” comments in response to some absurd suggestion, but he was never really seen as an interviewer-type. In 2008, Mickey wanted to shake things up and he forced the reclusive Evil to appear on screen conducting interviews since the UWA-WWF v. UWA-USWA brand split meant that Lawrence Mason wasn’t available on Raw. Evil’s nervousness eventually prompted him to show his more…hidden side. His “Gangsta” side. Thus, “E-Dawg” was born! Often stealing the show, E-Dawg became a guy with “street cred” that needed to be protected. He eventually hired the services of his “E-Crew” (two goons with some name involving “E”) and even went as far as “rapping” at the opening of an Oblivion PPV.

HCW Notable Stories and Characters –

Anthony and Thomas = While Evil was figuring himself out as an interviewer in the UWA and the EWA brought you the likes of Frank Dutch and Dave Matthews (not to be confused with the famous singer, songwriter), Anthony and Thomas changed the interview game for good! Before Anthony and Thomas, the standard for interviews in the back was the traditional “back to ringside” approach of Lawrence Mason. The interviewer was never the focus of the segment, only the star was. Anthony and Thomas flipped that on its head! Thomas and Anthony were remarkably short compared to the talent, but that never stopped them from being them. Thomas was always ready for a fight – having been a former wrestler in USWA named “Turbo” -, and he would always leave open the door to a fight by making an absurd remark and asking the talent if they “wanna fight about it” saying “big whoop” before the challenge. Anthony was a stranger character than Thomas. This guy always made it a point to remind the talent and audience that he wasn’t very bright, didn’t really pay attention to the rest of the show, and that his primary focus was his big, black…well, you get the point.

Edge/CM Punk = Arguably the greatest story not involving a world title in the Fourth Era! CM Punk was a new up and comer and John Brown was quick to draft him once he got the chance! Edge was a crazy veteran who got his start in Paul Heyman’s ECW back in the second era, trained Maniac, and seemingly drifted away into obscurity. That was until HCW got a hold of him! Edge started to have new life and new opportunities. Having participated in the jeopardy match to crown the first ever Extreme Champion (the Extreme Title was a title that required blood to be drawn in order for their to be a victory for the gold), Edge grew fond of chanting his name along with the beat and the chants of the crowd. This was a trend he fell in love with in the weeks leading up to the crowning of the first Extreme Champion. Well, CM Punk grew annoyed when Edge did this during the match and interrupted him by attacking him and starting the multi-man match. For the next month or two, Edge hilariously stalked CM Punk wherever he went. He oftentimes was spotted sitting in the corner of the hallway, fake-reading a newspaper. CM Punk grew tired of the stalking, reporting that Edge even slept in the dog house outside of his house wiping his ass with cats. CM Punk went to the point of accidentally attacking Rocky Johnson Junior when Rocky was innocently reading a newspaper in the corner. When CM Punk and Edge finally had a match, Edge revealed that he was stalking Punk all along out of revenge for the interruption of his beloved Edge-chant!! Edge went on to stalk other talent and Punk went on to do great things as well, but this forever remains the greatest moment in both of their careers.

Rhyno/Scott Nash/NWO = No one quite knew what to expect when the HCW drafted Scott Nash in the summer of 2008. Nash had always been a loyal employee of Mmouse Enterprises going back to the pre-USWA days of WPW. Nash was also the notorious former leader of the NWO in the USWA. Upon entering the HCW, Nash set out to take over HCW using his familiar long-dormant stable of destruction. For months, the New World Order under Nash’s revisited leadership tormented the HCW and threatened Brown’s brain child, especially once Nash set his sights on toppling the HCW Champion – John Brown’s brother -, Ted Brown. A new hope emerged for stabilization when the HCW shockingly traded Teo and Attitude for Rhyno. Rhyno was Brown’s prize fighter from the glory days of when HCW was a rebellious minor promotion in the dominant days of USWA. The world was absolutely shocked when Rhyno – who had caused the miscarriage of Jane Mouse and Benny Mouse’s illegitimate pregnancy just two months earlier – intentionally hit Ted Brown with the Gore to cost him the world title against Nash. Rhyno’s heel turn and joining the NWO became the biggest twist in the Fourth Era and helped solidify HCW’s dominant status for much thereof. Rhyno did eventually betray Nash, left the NWO, became its primary target, and feuded with Nash until ultimately becoming HCW’s last champion.

The Scarecrow/Evil Taker = A lover of dark magic and a student of the dark teachings of Soultaker, HCW’s Evil Taker was a great heel in HCW’s past, especially back in the Third Era. In the Fourth Era, Evil Taker’s twisted son, Scarecrow, arose out of nowhere and began to emerge as the most intimidating competitor in the company. Scarecrow was a product of demonic worship, dark magic, and many shady traditions in the dark forest that he was raised in. Scarecrow’s sado-masochism made him near-impossible to defeat. He loved pain: giving and receiving it! Scarecrow mounted an impressive list of victories, becoming the Extreme Champion, and soon feuding with his insane father. In the end, Scarecrow defeated Evil Taker, and became the only superstar to ever end an era undefeated and with a championship to boot!

Petey Williams = In the Fourth Era, Petey Williams quickly became one of the most exciting talents to watch. His “Canadian Destroyer” finisher was a move that could be hit “out of nowhere” and he added other high-flying moves to his arsenal, such as the Shooting Star Dropkick! Williams became a world title contender without ever having a serious shot at the title due to his immense popularity. Arguably his greatest match in the HCW was in an Aerial Assault match against the wrestling legend named Che.

The Hardy Boyz = For a brief period at the outset of the Fourth Era, Matt and Jeff Hardy were a tag team again. They never really enjoyed a lot of championship success in any promotion that they joined, but they remained a fan favorite through the Fourth Era. This stint as a team didn’t last long, though, as the future was brighter for Jeff than for Matt. The two went their separate ways and Jeff Hardy’s career took off as he was featured in some of the highest profile matches of the Era. He fell short of the World Title, but there was never any doubt that he could have had a legitimate reign.

Thunder and Aggressor = During the HCW Era which preceded the Fourth Era, Thunder, Aggressor, and Triple Threat were a dominant Trio. However, Triple Threat was forced into retirement and this team remained as a serious threat to everyone else. While the UWA had the Powerhouses (Brock Lesnar and Nathan Jones), HCW had its own Powerhouse pair in Thunder and Aggressor. The two of them ripped through competition on a regular basis. It is remarkable that they didn’t close the Era with the Tag Gold.

Alpha and Omega =Scratchy was HCW’s first ever champion back in 1998. Flyer was a USWA Lightheavyweight Legend who went on to become HCW’s last champion during the HCW Era. This was the reason that their team was known as “Alpha and Omega”. The team further lived up to their name when they became the first and last HCW Tag Champions of the Fourth Era.

Stoner’s Lounge = In the Third Era, the UWA had allowed the final months of its programming to feature occasional drug-infused segments of stupidity involving a pothead trio of Midget Hogan, Y2Bitch (formerly known as Tarzan), and Wolferine. In the Fourth Era, Brown refused to draft Midget Hogan (who was still universally despised for his 109-day infamous reign as USWA’s longest reigning champion in the Second Era), but he did draft Wolferine and Y2Bitch. However, they were no longer linked together unlike before, Bushwhacker joined Y2Bitch to rekindle the love of smoking and joking when they launched a segment called “Stoner’s Lounge” which occasionally stole the show on HCW Mayhem with comedic interview spots and blazed hilarity.

Sex Toy/Gay Batman/Hardcore Holly/Silverdust = Hardcore Holly didn’t enjoy his short stint in HCW. Initially, Holly was feuding with USWA legend Silverdust, who was openly gay and who loved making straight men uncomfortable. Holly enlisted the services of a bodyguard, who wound up coming out as “Sex Toy”. Holly tried to use Sex Toy to confront Silverdust and wound up becoming the focus of both their attention. Holly ended up fleeing to the EWA and what was left behind was an historic first-time feud between openly gay stars. This feud wound up looping in Gay Batman and became a hilarious love triangle which featured the great line “this isn’t where I parked my car” being used when one member of the triangle was caught cheating with the other.

Sabu = Sabu became HCW’s first champion of the Fourth Era in a surprising way. The HCW announced a monster tournament involving every member of the roster and which culminated in a hell in a cell match at their first PPV: Tumultuous Iniquity. During that tournament, one of the participants was a victim of a mystery attack and was then replaced by Sabu. Sabu wound up winning the tournament and almost gained as much hatred as Terry Austin did for winning the USWA and UWA titles. His reign didn’t last long, though, as he soon dropped the belt to Drakus.

Drakus = Drakus, who underwent a series of transitions since debuting as Keeper’s protégé in the USWA, entered the Fourth Era as one of HCW’s top picks. Drakus entered the company as a clear favorite to soon become champion and he did just that after winning the first ever Death From Above match (a rafter match with four participants) to become Sabu’s first challenger. Drakus spent the Era being a constant threat to the world title, but never again tasting the gold after dropping it to Ted Brown.

Gangrel = Gangrel was a legend of ECW who was drafted to HCW. He quickly joined in an alliance with Evil Taker as one of the first major feuds for Scarecrow, dropping the Extreme Title to him.

Hulk/Colossus = Colossus debuted in the LWF in 2004, but he quickly found a new home in HCW during the HCW Era. Hulk had debuted in HCW in 2002, and the two beasts had a great feud during the HCW Era. In 2008, John Brown announced that Colossus and Hulk would kick off the HCW portion of the Undisputed Championship tournament at the first “From Dusk Til Dawn”. Their incredible match on the grandest stage of all time stole the show and proved to the Mouse brothers that the HCW would be a genuine threat if Brown chose to reopen for the Fourth Era. HCW did so, and Hulk feuded with Colossus in the opening months of the Era. The two of them never seriously moved on from one another, which crippled their efforts at pursuing gold, but it can’t be denied that they played a pivotal role in laying the foundation for what would become HCW’s greatest and last stand in the industry.

WOW Notable Stories and Characters –

Metalhead/Dragonfly =In 2003, Dragonfly and Metalhead were the top superstars in the industry, with Metalhead leading the UWF and Dragonfly leading the UWA. From that point, through the rest of the Third Era a dream match was long discussed and even built between them. Their first meeting ever was in the Massacre Six Match main event at the first From Dusk Til Dawn in 2008 wherein they battled four others to crown the first ever Undisputed Champion of the World. Dragonfly and Metalhead were eliminated from that match due to their being distracted by one another and this led to Splinter winning the prize. In 2009, at the Second Installment of From Dusk Til Dawn, they met for the first time ever in a singles bout that ended in a draw. Their final encounter was slated for the Third installment of the event, but that show didn’t happen until 2019, and by then the encounter already happened (more on that in the Fifth Era).

Splinter/Slammu = In the First Era, Slammu met Splinter in 1996. Slammu was interested in becoming a wrestler – he was a multi-time boxing champion, having dominated the WBF (World Boxing Federation, a company owned by Mickey) and Mickey had asked him to sign on to WPW – and he was referred to Splinter to train. Splinter was the greatest and most celebrated wrestler of the First Era (or any, for that matter), having risen to the top of Murrey’s WWF on countless occasions. Their friendship blossomed and the two became like brothers. When the WPW transitioned to the USWA and blew up to become THE mega promotion, kicking off the Second Era, Slammu rose to incredible prominence as THE superstar to beat at the time. Splinter was very supportive at the time, even as his stock was sliding while he sunk into obscurity in Heyman’s ECW. Then, Splinter jumped ship to the USWA and found his new home alongside Slammu. This was all fine, and Slammu even tagged with Splinter for a while. However, Slammu was becoming greedier and more obsessed with power as Mickey enticed him with becoming champion again. In 2001, Splinter and Slammu wound up in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament, and that first encounter between them (Splinter was already in negotiation with ECW to jump back to the company) ended in serious controversy as Slammu betrayed Splinter, as Blaster turned heel, attacked Splinter, helping Slammu win, and paving the way for Mickey to shamefully fire Splinter in front of the world! This deeply scarred the friendship for years, but the two of them never openly talked about it, even after Slammu became a baby face again in 2002. They wouldn’t meet again in the ring until they faced off in the 2008 Legends Tournament Bracket at From Dusk Til Dawn and tore the house down. Splinter and Slammu decimated each other (making it clear that there was still bad blood between them). Splinter won the match and went on to become the first Undisputed Champion. As the Undisputed Champion and during his feud with Christian, Splinter let the accomplishments go to his head. Soon, it became clear that Slammu and Splinter had to settle their differences in a rubber match at the Second From Dusk Til Dawn when the two had a heated encounter at the late-2008 WOW PPV called “Diplomatic Deficiency”. Splinter was rubbing his greatness in Slammu’s face, and Slammu had the support of the people, but Splinter wound up winning their match at that show. Even after putting on a stellar performance in the match to settle the score, Splinter continued to be bitter, showing his newfound colors as a “sore winner”.

Amazon/Athena Starr = Amazon and Athena were arguably the greatest women’s wrestlers to ever step in the ring. Early in the Fourth Era, Amazon dominated the women’s division in the UWA as Athena dominated the EWA and ECW women’s divisions. Amazon had made history as the first ever woman to win a world title in 2004, and Athena made history as the first woman to win the Undisputed Title in 2010. The dream match between them did wind up happening in EWA after Amazon was drafted their in 2009’s annual draft. Athena won that match, but it was seen as far from the end of the story.

Mickey/Benny = The Third Era was where the Mouse Brothers transformed the Wrestling Industry into a bar room fight between them. It was their industry now and they were equally determined to become the best. The iconic war of words between Benny and Mickey as they negotiated for “From Dusk Til Dawn” is what set the foundation for the Fourth Era. Mickey heard Benny’s constant taunting and couldn’t bear to hear Benny claim that he was the best in the industry. Mickey buckled to pressure and announced that the UWA was presenting a “Second Coming”, but not before the two of them embarrassed themselves in the first and only in-ring battle between them at “From Dusk Til Dawn”. The insane fight, which featured more obnoxious screaming and taunting than actual fighting, was widely seen as the worst match of the night. Regardless of who won, everyone else lost. Even so, their feud endured in the business sense as their egos fueled the most competitive era of all and fueled the surprise dark horse winner thereof: John Brown and his HCW.