TNA will join the ranks of Smackdown, Raw, Thunder, and Nitro in a week when it finally moves back to two hours next week (the first time TNA has had a two hour slot since 2004 when they were still running pay-per-views every week.)

Many have said that this decision will aid TNA in the long run as the promotion will have more time to develop solid storylines and provide the fans with lengthy, interesting matches week in and week out. I say that it will give TNA an extra hour to make a mockery of the talent they have at their disposal, and shine a gigantic spotlight on the problems they have had since day one as it comes to booking decisions.

At any rate, the amount of time a promotion has to work with should have no bearing on how much quality is placed into the show week in and week out.

WCW Monday Nitro is probably the greatest example of time meaning nothing as far as quality of product is concerned.

When Nitro hit the airwaves in fall of 1995 they did so with only one hour to work with. With Eric Bischoff at the healm, the show managed to produce an entertaining sixty minutes every week that included major angles, huge moments, and decent main events that often were fairly lengthy (as far as 90s television bouts were concerned.)

With the promotion riding high and pulling ahead of the WWF’s own Monday Night Raw, Nitro was awarded a second hour to work with in 1996. Along with the NWO storyline that began that same year, WCW managed to work a full schedule of entertainment into every two hours they had.

By 1998, the Turner Networks were so enthralled with Nitro and the success it was bringing to their company that they awarded WCW yet ANOTHER hour to spend on Nitro along with a second two hour telecast on the TBS every week as well.

Thus throughout 1998 WCW had well over five hours of television on the air a week (not counting shows such as Saturday Night and Worldwide), and were handling it well by producing at least great matches and hot angles on every show.

However, as the decade came to a close so did the NWO angle and by 1999 the three hour format began to show its age when WCW started losing the creative ability to ply their trade for five hours every week.

Thunder was the first segment of the WCW television heirarchy to suffer from this stagnation as the amount of quality matches and angles soon began to decrease. WCW was, however, managing to keep the three hour Nitro telecast watchable by simply putting wrestlers in the ring and allowing them to wrestle far longer than anything Raw was doing at the time period. However, Raw was also putting together much more entertaining segments than Nitro.

When Vince Russo took over the reigns of WCW in late 1999 he also reduced the time from three down to two hours believing that he would be unable to write enough material for three hours. However, as the “more wrestling to fill more time” logic had proven for the promotion just a few months earlier, time is not a factor when it comes to good wrestling.

Russo’s problem was that he would not be unable to fill up three hours with his form of booking, which has come to be known as crash television. In Russo’s “no more than five minutes per segment after the opening interview” style, three hours would have been an eternity.

Russo, however, proved that even two hours could seem like forever when poor angles and even poorer matches were being provided to entertain wrestling fans week in and week out. Soon, the two hour Nitro broadcast became a chore to sit through for any wrestling fan that just could not bring themselves to miss an episode in case something big or good did indeed happen. Yes, there were a few times when that did occur after 1998 (for example: the night Chris Benoit…yes the urban legend did exist in wrestling history at one time even if WWE says otherwise…performed the swan dive headbutt off the top of a cage while Jimmy Snuka returned for a one shot spot to do his famous superfly splash from the top as well,) but these times were the exception rather than the rule.

Nitro finally started recovering from Russo’s handling of the show and the company itself in its final months, and the program started to put together two hours of entertainment again (generally based off of decent-to-good wrestling matches rather than any entertaining angles.)

When WCW was bought out by Vince McMahon the company had expanded from a single hour of watchable television to a full five hours of can’t miss T.V. at the height of its popularity back down to “pay me, and I’ll think about watching” junk on the downside of the promotion’s career.

The moral of the story: don’t let Vince Russo book your television programs.

Actually, the real moral is that a good wrestling company can keep fans entertained for however many hours they have to work with no matter if it is one, two, or even three. On the flip side a promotion that is rooted in bad booking, poor planning, and ill advised decisions can only get worse when those ingredients are given even more time to sour week in and week out.

In retrospect, I suppose I was a little harsh in my critique of Japanese wrestlers’ promo skills. They can’t help being handicapped by that crazy moon language of theirs, and most of the top guys in America aren’t much better at it. I’m referring to the WWE here—since promos are kind of meaningless in TNA where angles drop like empty sacks after about a week or so—and find myself wondering why the company that used to pride itself on having the best stick men in the business suddenly doesn’t.

In their boom period, there were tons of WWE guys who could talk. It was a prerequisite for the top tier of the company. They had Foley, Rock, Jericho, Kurt Angle when he was sane, Undertaker, of course Austin and Vince, and even in the midcard you had the New Age Outlaws (who brought that, and nothing else, to the table), the ECW contingent (the Dudleys, Tazz, Raven, etc.) and William Regal. Some of those names are still around, but the overall promo quality hasn’t just dropped, it’s plummeted.

Today, virtually every promo sounds like a celebrity public service announcement. Carlito and Randy Orton are particularly bad; the former…talkslikethis…allthetime…and the latter reminds me of an eighth grader trying to deepen his voice because he’s standing next to a girl. Bobby Lashley has the most ineffectual voice in wrestling (albeit a tremendously expressive face), and HHH is only good when he’s speaking off the cuff. Once he gets into Serious Interview Mode, it takes him twenty minutes to clear his throat, to say nothing of his thoroughly mocked vocal mannerisms-ah.

Normally, you’d correct this by bringing in a few managers. ROH has Julius Smokes and Larry Sweeney for that, TNA has James Mitchell around, and the WWE had a decent crop of mouthpieces back in the 80s and 90s. But they haven’t done much with managers lately, and don’t seem to care one way or the other about them, as evidenced by Armando disappearing from Umaga’s side the minute Umaga got over and Daivari being replaced by some bland office temp as Khali’s spokesman.

And those two only got managers, for lack of a better word, because their characters are supposed to be inarticulate brutes. A guy like Chris Masters needs a Bobby Heenan figure by his side just to draw the poor bastard some heat. Of course, one could argue there’s enough heat on Masters as it is, and that he should spend less time stepping up his game and more time driving a very fast car down whichever roads lead him away from Titan Towers. A guy his size could find farm work out West with no trouble, and his steroid bloat would harden into real muscle under the steady, dry Idaho heat that starts early and ends late.

…that was kind of a low blow, wasn’t it? The poor man has a problem. Granted, it’s one born largely of conceit, but it’s still too far. His numerous addictions have little to do with promos, anyway. Back on track.

Even the WWE’s champions are subpar. Batista sounds as bored as he generally looks, and John Cena’s formidable skills on the stick are hampered by the dumb shit they have him say. Fart juice? Jesus Christ, fart juice? He’s the world heavyweight champion. Guys in the midcard or lower should say fart juice. Not the champion. At least Flair could be silly and sound like he wanted to draw money at the same time. That Cena is a homing beacon for money and crowd reaction says more about his own personal magnetism than it does about the writers’ ability. And now he’s injured, so the point is moot.

In any case, all this brings up a question; why the hell aren’t Michael Hayes and Arn Anderson writing the promos? They’ve drawn money in wrestling and they certainly know more about establishing a character through interviews than Dave Lagana and Brian Gerwirtz, who can’t write for anyone now that Christian and the Rock are gone and Edge is sitting out a pectoral tear and a Wellness Policy suspension.

But the WWE doesn’t see a problem with scripting its workers to death, and letting failed sitcom writers pen the scripts, while giving the many promo geniuses in their employ little to no creative input. It’s really a symptom of the WWE’s attachment to committee thinking more than anything else, but it’s basically killed my interest in their programming.

Hell, even the topic itself is dull. Where is this going? It feels like I had a perfectly good idea that ran off to join the circus somewhere in the fifth paragraph. I guess I’ll end with my wish that Vince McMahon hits his head on a kitchen cabinet and the impact jostles his brain long enough for him to remember that sports entertainment should be, among other things, entertaining. See you next week.

By:  Dave K

After earning notoriety as a running back at the University of Tampa where he scored 21 career touchdowns and gained over 2000 all-purpose yards in his playing career, Orndorff failed to catch on in the NFL with both the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints. However, he did play for the Jacksonville Sharks of the World Football League in 1975. After one season in the WFL, he began training as a professional wrestler.

Paul Orndorff started wrestling in 1976. He wrestled in Mid-Southern Wrestling where he feuded with a young Jerry Lawler before he was known as “the King.” Orndorff pinned the King to win the Mid-Southern Heavyweight Title on June 7, 1977, which was Orndorff’s first wrestling title. Orndorff lost the title back to Jerry Lawler before he left the Memphis territory. Orndorff began working for the NWA Tri-State promotion where he got involved in a feud with Ernie Ladd. The feud with Ladd saw Orndorff win the NWA Tri-State NorthAmerican Heavyweight Title  from Ernie Ladd on two occasions (on May 29, 1978  and again in June). Both times, Orndorff’s reigns were short and were ended by Ernie Ladd.

After feuding with Ladd, Orndorff continued to make a name for himself in the National Wrestling Alliance where he feuded with Masked Superstar. During the time he became known as “The Brandon Bull,” a nickname he had during his days as a football player. In December 1978, Paul Orndorff teamed with Jimmy Snuka to capture the NWA World Tag Team titles from Baron Von Raschke and Greg Valentine . The duo held on to the titles for 5 months before losing them to Baron Von Raschke and his new partner Paul Jones on April 28, 1978 .

In 1979, Orndorff would travel to the Alabama territory’s “Southeast Championship Wrestling.” There, Orndorff would work mainly as a tag-team competitor teaming with Dick Slater to win the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship from the team of Jimmy Golden and Norvell Austin in October 1979. Their reign only lasted about a month before being upended by the combination of Dennis Condrey and David Schults . Orndorff then teamed with former opponent Norvell Austin (who was calling himself “The Junkyard Dog” at the time, not to be mistaken for the more famous Junkyard Dog) to win the titles in late 1979. The duo beat Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose, the same team that ended Orndorff and Austin’s run with the gold. Norvell Austin, Dennis Condrey, and Randy Rose would go on to form The Midnight Express shortly thereafter.

During 1980, Orndorff started to split his time between the Alabama and the Mid-South territories, until he left the Alabama territory by the end of 1980 to focus entirely on the Mid-South territory. In Mid-South, Orndorff feuded with Ken Mantell over Mantell’s propensity for cutting people’s hair after a match. Orndorff would get the better of Mantell and won the rights to use the Freebird hair removal cream on Mantell. Orndorff earned a shot at the North American champion The Grappler but on the day of the match he overslept (storyline) and was incensed when his replacement Jake “The Snake” Roberts beat the Grappler for the title. Orndorff’s reaction to Jake’s title win signaled a change in attitude; he turned heel as he demanded a title match against Jake “the Snake”. While he lost the support of the fans, he won the North American title on July 4, 1981. Orndorff would feud with Ted DiBiase, JYD, Dusty Rhodes, and Dick Murdoch while holding on to the North American title by hook and by crook. Orndorff lost the title to Ted DiBiase on November 1, 1981 in a match at the Municipal Auditoriun in New Orleans, Louisiana. Orndorff was unable to wrestle in the rematch due to car trouble, which meant that Ordorff’s friend Bob Roop got the title shot and won the match. It was soon revealed that Roop had sabotaged Orndorff’s car so he could get the title shot instead (storyline). Orndorff turned face to feud with Roop but found himself unable to regain the title after which he left the Mid-South Territory.

Orndorff reappeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling in early 1982 immediately launching into a feud with Buzz Sawyer over the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. Orndorff won the gold on June 20, 1982. During the summer, Orndorff would vacate the title so he could focus on pursuing the NWA World Champion “Nature Boy” RIc Flair . Orndorff was unsuccessful in his challenge and soon focused on the title he gave up. When Orndorff vacated the title, it was put on the line in a tournament that was won won by The Super Destroyer . On August 19 1982, Paul Orndorff regained the title from the Super Destroyer. Orndorff next feuded with The Masked Superstar, with whom he traded the National Heavyweight title back and forth during the fall of 1982. Orndorff then traded the title back and forth with Super Destroyer . Frustrated with his inability to beat Paul Orndorff for the National title, Larry Zbyszko paid Killer Tim Brooks $25,000 to do his dirty work. Brooks beat Orndorff with the help of a chair and won the title only to turn around and give it to Zbyszko. The fact that Zybszko bought the title and didn’t win it forced NWA President Bob Geigel to step in and strip Zbyszko of the title. By mid 1983, Paul Orndorff disappeared from the wrestling world and was not seen for 4-5 months.

Orndorff signed with the World Wrestling Federation in late 1983 and made his debut in January 1984 with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as his manager. Piper nicknamed Paul Orndorff “Mr. Wonderful,” a nickname that he has used ever since. Orndorff made his WWF debut against Salvatore Bellomo on the night that Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik for the WWF World Heavyweight Title, the night that “Hulkamania was born”, January 23, 1984 in Madison Square Garden.  Orndorff became one of the first people to challenge for the world title, shooting straight to the main event less than a month after his debut. Hogan disposed of the challenger and moved on while Orndorff fought a variety of opponents including the Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana  . When Roddy Piper assaulted Jimmy Snuka on the set of “Piper’s Pit”, Orndorff (as well as Bob Orton, Jr.) assisted the Rowdy One in his fights. Orndorff and Piper often faced Snuka and “The Tonga Kid” in tag-team competition.

Near the end of 1984, Roddy Piper’s assault on Cyndi Lauper (storyline) brought Orndorff and Piper on a collision course with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T in one of the most famous angles in the history of pro-wrestling. Hogan’s feud with Piper also meant that Orndorff was thrust back into the main event picture; he defeated Tony Atlas at “the War to Settle the Score” and then played a part in the main event. The fallout from “the War to Settle the Score” led to the creation of WrestleMania, with Hogan and Mr. T (backed by Jimmy Snuka) taking on “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in the main event. The end of the match saw a botched attempt at cheating when Orton accidentally hit Orndorff with the cast on his arm, allowing Hogan to pin Orndorff and win the match for his team^[11]. Blaming Orndorff for the loss, Piper and Orton attacked him on the first episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Later in the evening, Orndorff ran to the ring to even the sides when Piper and Orton were preparing to double team Hulk Hogan. He solidified his babyface status by publicly firing manager Bobby Heenan shortly afterwards.

Orndorff and Hogan started teaming up to feud with Piper and Orton, facing them in tag-team competition all over the country. Orndorff’s feud with Piper and Orton continued to rage on while Hogan started to defend his title against other contenders; Orndorff faced both Orton and Piper in individual competition, usually without a conclusive outcome. After firing Bobby Heenan as his manager, the Brain placed a $25,000 bounty on Orndorff, payable to anyone who could injure him. When no one succeeded, Heenan upped the bounty to $50,000. One of the first men to try and claim the new, higher bonus was Roddy Piper himself, but their matches got so out of hand that Bruno Sammartino was appointed as a special referee in the hopes of keeping peace. Instead of keeping peace, Sammartino became a target for Orton and Piper, which led to Orndorff and Sammartino teaming up. Orndorff teamed with a variety of opponents in his fights with Piper and Orton, including Andre The Giant. In February 1986, Bobby Heenan used a match between Hulk Hogan and Don Muraco as an opportunity to have King Kong Bundy attack Hogan, setting up their WrestleMania 2 match. While Hogan fought off Bundy, Orndorff battled Don Muraco in a match that ended in a disappointing double count out.

The double count out was a clear signal that Paul Orndorff did not have momentum on his side any more; he had gone from being a world title challenger to Hulk Hogan’s tag-team partner, helping the champ fight his battles. Orndorff’s frustrations were further fuelled by Adrian Adonis, who took every opportunity that he could to mock Orndorff (including referring to him as “Hulk Jr.”), saying that he had gone soft from teaming with Hogan. Adonis kept on irritating Orndorff, going so far as daring Paul Orndorff to prove just how close his relationship with Hulk Hogan really was. During a televised phone call to Hulk Hogan, Orndorff was told that Hogan was too busy training to come to the phone, something which aggravated Orndorff to no end. The next time that Hogan and Orndorff teamed up, Orndorff wrestled most of the match by himself in an attempt to upstage Hogan. During a tag match where Hogan and Orndorff faced the massive duo of Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy, Hogan and Orndorff accidentally collided; and Hogan knocked Orndorff off the apron. When Studd and Bundy started to double team Hogan, Orndorff did not help out; he looked like he had hurt his eye in the collision. It wasn’t until Studd and Bundy had Hogan in a compromised position that Orndorff re-entered the ring and then proceeded to piledrive Hogan.

Orndorff soon reunited with manager Bobby Heenan and once again feuded with Hulk Hogan, including a memorable outdoor match in Toronto which drew an estimated 76,000 fans. After a series of matches with no clean outcome it was decided that Hogan and Orndorff would clash in a Steel cage match on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The Cage match saw both Orndorff and Hogan climb over the top of the cage and touch the floor at the same time. After reviewing the footage it was decided that it was a draw and the match was restarted. Once the match restarted Hogan beat Orndorff with the leg drop and then easily exited the cage to win the match, ending their feud.Their half-year long feud is one of the most notable (and profitable) feuds in the history of pro wrestling.

During the Hogan feud, Orndorff seriously injured his left arm in a weightlifting accident. Because he was in the middle of his big money run with Hogan, he didn’t want to take the time off to have the surgery to properly treat it, opting instead to continue to wrestle. After the program with Hogan ended, Orndorff worked a reduced schedule for a few months before he was forced to take some time off because of the injury. While Orndorff was away from the WWF, Bobby Heenan brought in a new man “Ravishing” Rick Rude to take Orndorff’s place in the Heenan Family. Orndorff returned to the ring specifically to fire Bobby Heenan and to feud with Rick Rude. Orndorff took Oliver Humperdink as his manager in his fight with Rude and Heenan. Orndorff’s last “big” appearance was at the inaugural Survivor Series on November 26, 1987, where he teamed with Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Ken Patera, and Don Muraco to take on Andre “The Giant,” the One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, and Butch Reed. Orndorff was eliminated by a roll up by Rude early in the match.

Paul Orndorff retired in very early 1988 due to his arm injury and focused on running his bowling alleys in Florida. During his time away from the sport he was actually reported to have died, a story that made several newspapers. The time off was because of the injury to his arm/neck that he suffered during the Hogan feud and had allowed to go untreated for too long. With the time off, Orndorff recovered and started working out, reestablishing the physique that earned him the nickname “Mr. Wonderful” in the first place. The only difference was that his left arm was noticeably smaller and weakened due to a neck injury that caused nerve damage and eventually the atrophy of his left biceps.

In 1990 Orndorff returned to the squared circle, wrestling a series of matches against Kerry Von Erich on the independent circuit. By the spring of 1990 Orndorff signed with World Championship Wrestling, making his debut as a member of a group called the “Dudes with Attitudes” consisting of himself, Sting, Lex Luger, Junkyard Dog, and the Steiner Brothers. The Dudes backed Sting in his fight with the Four Horsemen. At Clash of the Champions XI Orndorff defeated Arn Anderson and at the 1990 Great American Bash, Orndorff teamed up with the Junkyard Dog and El Gigante to defeat Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, and Sid Vicious by disqualification. Orndorff remained with WCW until the fall of 1990.

By late 1990, Orndorff became one of the featured headliners for Herb Abrams fledgling Universal Wrestling Federation . Televised on several cable outlets, the UWF saw many former WWF stars such as Don Muraco, Bob Orton, Jr., “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, Lou Albano, and The Killer Bees (known as “Masked Confusion” in the UWF). Mr. Wonderful more or less immediately started feuding with “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, who attacked Orndorff to kick start the feud. Orndorff and Williams clashed several times in what was promoted as the “Signature Feud” of the UWF in it’s early days. Orndorff would also reignite his feud with Bob Orton, Jr. in the UWF, where he beat Orton for the UWF Southern States Championship on June 22, 1992 and held the title until he left the promotion. On June 9, 1991, Orndorff competed on the UWF’s only ever PPV Beach Brawl, defeating Col. DeBeers in a Strap match. Orndorff left the UWF sometime in early 1993, vacating the Southern States title.

While working for the UWF, Orndorff would also compete in the “American Wrestling Federation” (not the safe promotion as the AWF and held the AWF Heavyweight title after beating Stan Lane on December 16, 1991. In February 1992 Orndorff left the AWF, vacating the title. During this time Orndorff also competed in the “National Wrestling League”, holding its’ tag-team titles alongside Brian Blair sometime in 1993.

In 1992, Smoky Mountain Wrestling opened its doors for the first time as they announced a tournament to crown the first SMW Heavyweight Champion. Among the participants invited to compete were Buddy Landel, “Dirty White Boy” Tony Anthony, and Brian Lee. Orndorff was only listed as an “Alternate” in case someone got injured; the “alternate” status was a blow to Orndofff’s ego (storyline), causing him to attack several wrestlers including Hector Guerrero so he could take his place in the tournament. Orndoff beat Tim Horner and Robert Gibson in the preliminary rounds to advance to the finals of the tournament. In the finals, Orndoff got disqualified giving the title to Brian Lee instead.

Siding with the “Dirty White Boy” Tony Anthony, Orndorff feuded with Hector Guerrero and Brian Lee. Lee brought in Ron Garvin to fight off Orndorff; the feud included a very publicized “piledriver” match which was won by Garvin. Orndorff was “fired” from the SMW after piledriving a referee in frustration.

Orndorff returned to WCW in late 1992. In January 1993 he took on Cactus Jack, with the winner being manager Harley Race’s chosen replacement for an injured Rick Rude at the Clash of the Champions. Race assisted Orndorff in the match and was quickly joined by Vader in his attack on Cactus Jack. After the match, Race declared that Paul Orndorff was his chosen man. .. Orndorff was pinned by Cactus Jack in subsequent “Thunderdome Mach.”  and the two had an intense feud including a Falls Count Anywhere match at SuperBrawl III which Cactus Jack won

After the feud with Cactus cooled off, “Mr. Wonderful” set his sights on the vacant WCW World Television Championship. Orndorff signed up for a 16 man tournament beating 2 Cold Scorpio, Cactus Jack, Johnny B. Badd, and then Erik Watts in the finals to win his first WCW title. Orndorff, the TV champion, and Rick Rude, the U.S. Champion, began teaming on a regular basis, including a PPV victory over Dustin Rhodes and Kensuke Sasaki at Slamboree 1993. During this time Orndorff also turned back the challenges of Ron Simmons, holding on to his Television title by any means necessary. On August 18, 1993, Orndorff’s luck ran out as Ricky Steamboat challenged for the title at Clash of the Champions XXIV  and took the gold away from Mr. Wonderful. After unsuccessfully challenging Ricky Steamboat throughout the fall and winter of 1993, it was time for a change of pace.

After the 1993 WCW PPV Battlebowl, the Horsemen Paul Roma and Arn Anderson faced the semi-regular team of Paul Orndorff and “Stunning” Steve Austin on WCW Saturday Night. During the match, Roma acted very indifferent to his tag-team partner, sowing the seeds to his heel turn. Next, Roma teamed with Erik Watts to take on the team of Orndorff and Austin once again. This time Roma took it a step further and attacked Erik Watts before announcing that he was now teaming with Paul Orndorff.

Under the tutelage of manager Masked Assassin, the team quickly began to work well together in a feud with Marcus Alexander Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio . After a few months as a team, they targeted the then WCW World Tag Team Champions Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan.

In the following months both Roma and Orndorff focused on their individual careers before reuniting around May, this time without their manager and now officially known as “Pretty Wonderful”. With both men rededicated to teaming, they soon targeted the WCW World Tag Team Championship then held by Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan. Especially one incident stands out as Pretty Wonderful establishing them in the title chase. The champions had one last defense against former champions The Nasty Boys that also saw Kevin’s injured brother Dave. The match degraded into a brawl that saw Pretty Wonderful make an appearance using Dave’s crutch to attack the champions. Before the team left the ring, they also took a couple of shots at the Nasty Boys for good measure.

Going into Bash at the Beach 1994,  Pretty Wonderful had the advantage as both champions were suffering from injuries inflicted by the challengers on previous occasions (or so the storyline went). Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan were unable to hold off Roma and Orndorff, as Pretty Wonderful left the ring with the gold. After winning the titles Pretty Wonderful was immediately challenged by the Nasty Boys, but the Nasty Boys were never able to take the gold from the champions. Next, Pretty Wonderful was challenged by the duo of Stars’N’Stripes (Marcus Alexander Bagwell & The Patriot) at Fall Brawl. The champions retained, but a week later the championship changed hands when Stars’N’Stripes got the 1-2-3. Pretty Wonderful was granted a rematch against the new champions with a match booked for Halloween Havoc; Pretty Wonderful regained the titles when Roma used one of the title belts to knock Bagwell out cold.

At Clash of the Champions XXIX Stars’N’Stripes were granted one FINAL shot at the tag-team titles, but the challengers also had to put up the Patriot’s mask on the line. After a controversial double pin finish Stars’N’Stripes were declared the winners and thus the champions, putting the end to Pretty Wonderful’s second and final run with the gold.

After Roma left WCW, Orndorff returned to singles competition with his most notable match at the time being an unsuccessful shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship when he faced champion the Great Muta at Slamboree 1995 . In May, 1995 Orndorff got a golden opportunity to regain the WCW Television title. First, he defeated Brian Pillman in a tournament to earn the shot at the champion. Unfortunately he lost to WCW newcomer The Renegade at Bash at the Beach . Orndorff was also unable to beat the rookie in subsequent matches and began to lose confidence in his abilities (storyline). After losing more and more matches, Orndorff lost all faith in his abilities; the arrogant Mr. Wonderful was riddled with self doubt, until one night where he was visited by psychic Gary Spivey. Spivey told Orndorff to believe in himself and that he shouldn’t forget that he was “Mr. Wonderful” . With his confidence restored, the more carefree and less arrogant Paul Orndorff started to win again, quickly disposing of the now Ex-TV champion the Renegade.

Due to his previous injures in the WWF, the entire right side of his body began to atrophy, eventually causing his arm and leg muscles to shrink, it was something he had worked through as best he could but by the end of 1995 he was forced to retire and started to work as a trainer and a road agent for WCW.

During an encounter backstage, Vader had reportedly been asked by Kevin Sullivan and several others to come and do a crucial interview segment. Vader was abusive, tired, and injured. There was also speculation of his drinking and medicating for injuries that caused him to have mood swings. Kevin Sullivan went to Paul Orndorff and asked him to go ask Vader to do the interview before the union workers had to take their break. Vader says that Orndorff was abusive to him and started it. Orndorff claims that Vader was abusive. A brief fight ensued that had apparently been brewing for some time. Accounts of this notorious real-life altercation generally claim that the upper hand was held by Orndorff, who’d practically “begged Vader to start something” as tensions grew . The two were separated in short time. Afterwards, Vader was soon released from World Championship Wrestling. Orndorff’s reputation as a ‘legit tough guy’ was cemented by this altercation for three reasons. One, Vader knocked Orndorff off his feet with the first flurry of blows and Orndorff came back. Two, Orndorff was impaired by a severely impaired arm that had started to atrophy due to nerve damage caused by injuries in the ring that left him all but one armed. Three, he overcame the much larger (400+ pound) ex-NFL lineman in such a vicious way.

Both men tell very different accounts of this incident, Orndorff stating that he was simply the better man in the fight, and Vader stating that, fearing for his position in the company, he relented in his assault on Orndorff after taking him off his feet with his first strike.

After Orndorff retired he began to run WCW Power Plant, where he trained several wrestlers including the Natural Born Thrillers . He had a brief onscreen role during this time in the Old Age Outlaws with Terry Funk, Arn Anderson, and Larry Zbyszko to feud with the last WCW incarnation of the nWo.

On February 3, 2005, Orndorff was announced as one of the inductees for the Class of 2005 into the WWE Hall of Fame. He was inducted on April 2, 2005 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.

Credit: Wikipedia