What If The Curtain Call Hadn’t Happened?

In the contemporary wrestling world, it’s no secret that what fans watch on TV and in arenas is worked. The outcomes are predetermined; the wrestlers are working not in combat, but in tandem; and promos are delivered in character, if not outright scripted by writers behind the scenes. Indeed, nowadays, WWE even releases its own documentaries and shoot interviews that peel back kayfabe to reveal the inner workings of the business.

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Things were different in 1996. Vince McMahon had started using the term sports entertainment, and it was increasingly common to find fans who were “smartened up” rather than ”marks” who accepted pro wrestling happenings as entirely real. Just the same, those who made their living in the wrestling world were generally still quite protective of kayfabe, rarely outright revealing the fix was into anyone outside of the business.

So it was that the Curtain Call made waves. This incident saw real-life friends Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Diesel, and Razor Ramon forewent kayfabe face and heel lines to celebrate in the ring together one last time, on the eve of the latter stars departing for WCW.

It was one of the most significant and infamous instances of wrestlers breaking kayfabe in public and an important moment in WWE history. This article speculates what might have been had it never gone down at all.

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#5 Triple H Wins King of the Ring 1996

Triple H carried the weight of responsibility for the Curtain Call.

As WWE has openly acknowledged in documentaries including the Thy Kingdom Come Triple H feature, The Game was originally slated to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament to start a major push toward the top of the company. WWE management felt the need to punish someone for the breach of kayfabe, though. As reigning world champ, Shawn Michaels was thought of us as untouchable, while Diesel and Razor Ramon had just finished with the company. Thus, Helmsley was the one left behind to bear the consequences of the group’s actions.

The Cerebral Assassin would end up winning the tournament one year later, in many ways picking up where he left off. Nonetheless, he missed out on this big break and spent a several month period mostly jobbing out before he got put back on track. In the end, this may have been the best for Triple H getting the chance to prove his mettle in weathering the storm without complaint, but it was difficult to see that upside at the moment.

#4 No Austin 3:16

Austin 3:16 may have never existed were it not for the Curtain Call.

The most immediate and profound beneficiary of WWE punishing Triple H for the Curtain Call was none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin. He was gathering steam with his foul-mouthed, cutthroat heel character, not to mention his stellar in-ring chops. When WWE was in need of a replacement King of the Ring, they decided to give unproven Austin the huge opportunity.

Not every King of the Ring becomes a success story—just ask guys like Mabel and Billy Gunn. Austin was up to the task, though. Between his semifinal and finals appearances in the tournament, Austin went to the hospital to get stitches, and upon his immediate return, demanded that someone tell him what Jake Roberts had said after winning his own way to the last round of the tournament.

Austin took Roberts’ Bible-quoting words, and turned them on their head to famously proclaim “Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass.” It became one of the most iconic promos in wrestling history and gave way to one of the most famous t-shirts the business had ever seen—all paving the way for Stone Cold to become the biggest star in wrestling.

#3 The Kliq has a better rep

The Kliq drew a ton of heat with the Curtain Call.

The Kliq—Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman—were generally respected for their talent and drawing power, while at the same time garnering side eye from their colleagues for the perception that they politicked too much and held back other talents. There were a variety of ribs and exploits that got the buddies heat from the locker room, but the Curtain Call? While other transgressions could be dismissed as petty or as misunderstandings, the choice to so brazenly break kayfabe, and to do so at the most famous arena in the world drew the group nuclear, and near universal heat.

The Kliq had the last laugh by way of long, celebrated careers, with Michaels often cited as the greatest all around wrestler of all time, and Triple H poised to take over WWE, and by extension the wrestling world. Still, maybe they wouldn’t have had quite so uphill of a battle to gain the respect of their peers had it not been for the Curtain Call.

#2 Bootlegging remains stigmatized

Bootleg footage of the Curtain Call became the official record.

In an era before smartphones or even digital cameras hitting the mainstream, there was a deep stigma against fans bootlegging live events, and particularly WWE shows. Unlike the present day when it’s totally normal for a fan to upload a video to social media during a show, fans in the 1990s had to dare to smuggle a video camera into the arena, and typically tried to keep a low profile to avoid the risk of prosecution, or at least being kicked out of an event.

It was in this context that two fans taped the house show at Madison Square Garden and just happened to stumble upon recording the Curtain Call. Their bootleg would become a part of wrestling history that WWE eventually paid them for.

While WWE, like most major companies, still frowns on bootlegging, the importance of this particular tape—and the possibility this moment in wrestling history may have otherwise been lost—has arisen as a defense for people who record goings on at live events.

#1 The Attitude Era delayed

The Curtain Call helped spark the Attitude Era.

The Kliq was highlighted by forward-thinking talents who liked to push the envelope and generally push WWE toward a more realistic, less cartoonish style of programming. The Curtain Call exemplified their approach to wrestling. It blurred the lines between fact and fiction and suggesting the defiance of authority that would in many ways define the Attitude Era to follow, particularly for acts like D-Generation X and Steve Austin.

To be fair, a lot of factors contributed to the emergence of Attitude. These points included competition with WCW, declining business, and an interest in catering to Hulkamania era kids who’d grown into rebellious teens. Just the same, it’s conceivable that an incident like this one helped steer the course for WWE to think differently and embrace rather than shy away from controversy and the idea that fans might realize the business was a work. At the least, it may have taken longer for Attitude to have come about without the Curtain Call.