The Black Plague

November 2005 to April 2006

The WWE from November of 2005 to April of 2006 is regarded by most in the professional wrestling world as “The Black Plague of Wrestling”. While that may not be the most accurate description, it is without a doubt one that vividly paints a mental picture as to the state of World Wrestling Entertainment during this time. From one disaster and tragedy to the next, the WWE’s legs were cut off at every conceivable point. This is a timeline and history of what occurred during these infamous six months that led the WWE to where it is today, a company in turmoil desperately in need of restructuring, yet unable to do so.

The month started off with a PPV, Taboo Tuesday, on the first day of November. What had been promised to be a continuation of so many ongoing stories for The Raw Brand would wind up being a night of turmoil and broken promises. Whether it was the bait and switch regarding Edge in the Raw vs. Smackdown match, a mess in regards to the Batista vs. Coach match, itself a last minute change when Steve Austin pulled out of the event over the weekend, no mention of Jim Ross' job being on the line, Christian's last night with the company before his much rumored jump to TNA, or a Main Event that saw the Champion and center piece of Raw being booed, many tuned in to see a disaster in the making. Perhaps the only bright spot was the arrival of Joey Styles, for one night only, to the broadcast booth to join Jerry Lawler to call this event.

Taboo Tuesday happened like this:

• Matt Striker and Kerwin White defeated Val Venis and Shelton Benjamin on the Heat Pre-Show
• Team Smackdown (Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy) defeated Team Raw (Chris Masters and Gene Snitsky), due to Edge's refusal to wrestle and Snitsky taking his place in the match, when Rey pinned Snitsky
• Eugene and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka defeated Rob Conway and Tyson Tomko when Snuka pinned Conway
• Mankind defeated Carlito
• The Big Show and Kane defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch when Show pinned Cade to win the World Tag Team Titles
• Batista defeated Coach, Goldust, and Vader in a Handicap Street Fight Match when he pinned Coach
• Trish Stratus defeated Victoria, Ashley, Candice Michelle, Mickie James, and Maria in a Lingerie Battle Royal to retain the Women's World Title
• Ric Flair defeated HHH when he escaped the Steel Cage to retain the IC Title
• John Cena retained the World Heavyweight Title against Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels when he pinned Michaels
• Gone, for the foreseeable future, was Austin, Jim Ross, and the McMahon family storyline against them both, as well as any semblance of a roster split. This would lead to SD that Friday, where Christian wrestled his last ever match with the WWE, Booker T turned heel against his supposed close friend Chris Benoit, and Eddie and Batista were unable to defeat MNM for the WWE Tag Team Titles. The build to Survivor Series was now completely on.
• With Edge already on the injured list, the last thing that the WWE needed was to lose another man, but that is precisely what happened on the following week's SD, when Batista was injured in an encounter with Big Show and Kane, and further injured in a dark match against Randy Orton. WWE had to think fast, as Batista was scheduled to be a center piece in the SurSer Inter Brand Tag Match, so they announced a Triple Threat for the WWE Heavyweight Title for the following week with Batista defending his belt against Randy Orton and Eddie Guerrero. However, as with so much else, this was not to be, as a tragedy occurred that would make everything else that transpired seem small in comparison.

Eddie Guerrero passed away on Sunday November 13, 2005. The WWE put everything on hold, focusing a week's worth of shows on the legacy and memory of their fallen friend and coworker.

The following week it was time to return to stories as usual, as the WWE had only one week left to finish booking a PPV that was supposed to be one of the center pieces of the year, and the SD portion of said PPV was in shambles. WWE decided to take Batista off the PPV and off of TV when Batista was urged by Vince McMahon and HHH to get the surgery done needed to repair the damage to his back. The Main Event for SD was promised to be Batista defending his title against Orton, but the match never took place as Batista was attacked backstage on SD by Edge, who hit him in the back with a steel pipe repeatedly. It was revealed later in the show that Batista was out indefinitely, and Orton wound up facing Matt Hardy on the show instead, which resulted in a DQ win for Hardy when Bob Orton interfered. Orton, who had been scheduled to face The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match, would now team with his father to face Matt Hardy and Roddy Piper at SurSer, as all within the WWE felt the match would now be in poor taste.

Survivor Series ended up looking like this:

• On the Heat Pre-Show Eugene and Rosey defeated Gregory Helms and Rob Conway when Rosey pinned Conway
  
  Eugene came dressed as The Hurricane, which set Helms off. Halfway through the match Helms and Eugene fought to the back, and Conway was put away by the bigger and decidedly meaner and nastier Rosey.


• Juventud defeated Nunzio, Paul London, and Kid Kash to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Title
  
  In this Survivor Series style Elimination Match, Juvi came out victorious.


• MNM defeated The New LOD, Regal and Birchall, and The Mexicools to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
  
  In this Survivor Series style Elimination Match MNM were victorious over the other three teams.


• Teddy Long, with The Boogeyman and Goldust, defeated Eric Bischoff, with Mark Henry and Coach
  
  Bischoff brought Henry back and Coach out with him for the match, however Henry and Coach were taken out by The Freaks, Boogeyman and Goldust, who accompanied Teddy Long to ringside. Long was able to secure a pinfall win over Bischoff.


• Ric Flair defeated HHH to retain the IC Title in this Last Man Standing Match
  
  After Flair nailed HHH with the sledgehammer, HHH was unable to make the ten count, and Flair defeated his former best friend for the second month in a row.


• Randy Orton and Cowboy Bob Orton defeated Rowdy Roddy Piper and Matt Hardy
  
  Randy Orton hit Piper with the RKO to get the win, and then he and his father destroyed Piper after the match. Randy claimed he had ended the career of Piper once and for all, adding another notch to his belt.


• John Cena defeated Kurt Angle to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
  
  Cena won the match after fifteen long minutes with the FU. However…


• Edge defeated John Cena when he cashed in his Money In The Bank shot to become the new World Heavyweight Champion
  
  Cena was tired, limping, and bloody when Edge’s music hit. Lita came out to the ramp with the briefcase and pulled out the MITB contract for the belt. Cena turned to face the ref and was met with a Spear and pinned.


• Team SD defeated Team Raw in this Survivor Series Elimination Match
  
  Team Raw was HBK, Kane, Big Show, Carlito and Chris Masters while Team SD wound up being Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero Jr., JBL, and Bobby Lashley. Chavo, Rey, and Benoit were the survivors for Team SD.

Another highlight of SurSer showed JBL mocking HHH in the back after his loss to Ric Flair for the second month in a row. JBL mentioned how HHH had lost every PPV match he’d wrestled since WrestleMania, something the bloody HHH did not take lightly. During the SD vs. Raw match, HHH came down to the ring and verbally berated JBL, causing his elimination when he was nailed with Sweet Chin Music by HBK.

The PPV was mostly a success, setting into motion several things that would play out over the course of the next few months. However in hindsight, perhaps setting HHH and JBL on a collision course wasn’t the best idea ever. Or so HHH would come to think.

But perhaps the biggest part of the night wasn’t anything that was revealed on the PPV itself, but what happened over the course of the next week. Kurt Angle, who had to be helped to the back by officials following his match, learned that he had further damaged his neck and back. Online reports revealed that Angle, who had laid motionless in the ring until he was helped out by several officials during the Lita promo, had been told that he should not wrestle again.

John Cena had effectively ended Kurt Angle’s wrestling career.