World Wrestling Entertainment is moving ahead with their “new era,” but according to former employee Cody Rhodes, the organization isn't opposed to going back to the past and resurrecting an old idea.
Cody Rhodes was on a recent episode of Ring Rust radio and shared that their 2013 pay-per-view event Battleground was “originally designed to be War Games...but somebody said 'No it (referring to the second ring needed for a War Games match) takes up too much ticket space.'”
It's a shame, as the Battleground event was a big flop for the WWE. The one match to garner a positive response featured Cody teaming with his brother Dustin (better known as Goldust) and their father Dusty against the dastardly trio known as The Shield (comprised of now-World Champion Dean Ambrose and former champs Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.)
Not to say a “War Games” match would have made the event a complete success, but it would have been a fitting final bout for the late Dusty Rhodes, who is credited with creating that style of match.
History Lesson
If you're reading this and are unfamiliar with “War Games,” here's a brief synopsis:
The “War Games” match consists of two teams of either four or five wrestlers per team, with one wrestler from each team starting the match. At appointed intervals, a wrestler from one of the teams is allowed to join the match, creating a handicap match for a brief time until the next interval passes. At that time, a wrestler from the other team joins the match to even the odds. This process continues until all ten wrestlers join the match. To accommodate the action, two rings are set up side-by-side with a single cage encasing both rings.
The first War Games match occurred in 1987 to promote the escalating rivalry between Dusty Rhodes and the Four Horsemen. Over the years, the match was brought back as a special event for house shows and eventually became a featured event at WCW's Fall Brawl pay-per-view. War Games became a key component in WCW's PPV schedule to bring rivalries between factions to a head.
Some of the more memorable moments in War Games matches have been courtesy of some unpleasant or controversial moments. The very first match ended shortly after Four Horsemen manager (and occasional wrestler) JJ Dillon legitimately injured his arm after receiving a “Doomsday Device” finisher that resulted in his falling backward off of an opponent's shoulders. Another incident came in 1991 and found Brian Pillman getting flipped into the top of the cage before being planted into the mat with a powerbomb from Sid Vicious.
Throw the Baby Out With the Bath Water
The decision to nix War Games shouldn't surprise long-time WWE fans, as many creative and debatably good ideas haven't been carried over from WCW. The glorified Royal Rumble known as World War 3 which featured three rings and 60 wrestlers instead of the Rumble's one ring with 30 or 40 wrestlers, is undoubtedly gone for good. Why? A) the WWE already has their own, smaller, single-ring version and B) if they won't do a two-ringed War Games, why would they ever consider a match with a third ring?
The Lethal Lottery was an interesting concept. The “random” selection of teams in tag matches pitted tag team partners against one another and put rivals on the same team, forcing them to cooperate if they wanted to make it to the glorious “BattleBowl” battle royal match at the end of the evening. This concept, while fun at times, does give off an independent promotion feel that doesn't befit a major promotion like World Wrestling Entertainment. It would be like having an exhibition football game where the players all had to play out of position. It might be fun for a while to see the 350-pound lineman throw the ball or kick a field goal, but it's not going to provide the most quality show possible. There are better ways for angles to progress than being “randomly” paired together.
And if you weren't sure, yes, “random” is in quotes because of course they were not randomly picked.
One event the WWE has adopted, to an extent: WCW's Halloween Havoc gimmick of “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal.” The ominous name was not carried over, however, as the WWE called it “Raw Roulette,” and they didn't use the gimmick for just one main event match, it was used for multiple matches throughout the evening. (http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/01072008/articles/roulette)
Interesting aside, the first Raw Roulette was introduced when Eric Bischoff, former head of WCW, was the General Manager of Raw.
It doesn't look like we'll see War Games in the near future, but it's interesting that WWE creative would seriously discuss bringing it back. A new era of talent like Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose in a War Games match would no doubt bring a lot of positive chatter in the WWE Universe.