The Plane Ride From Hell

   May 5th, 2002 will go down as one of the most embarrassing moments in WWE history.  Many incidents occurred on a plane ride going home from the Raw brand's European Tour and due to the nature of these incidents, it was notoriously named the "Plane Ride From Hell."  Several superstars and WWE personnel were involved in these incidents.  I will get into detail about these incidents, as well as pose a what-if question pertaining to the flight and the safety of its passengers.

The Ponytail

   Road agent Michael Hayes was involved in one of the major incidents on this particular 7-hour flight.  Like many others on the flight, he had been drinking too much and got himself into some trouble.  He tried to instigate fights with both Scott Hall and Bradshaw during the flight.  He went into an area, thinking it was a bathroom, and almost urinated on Linda McMahon, of all people!  At some point, he was passed out, either due to a supposed punch out by Bradshaw or more likely, from drinking too much.  Hayes, although his hairline had receded big time, still maintained a long ponytail.  It was reported that due to heat he had with Hayes, X-Pac cut off the ponytail.  When everyone got back to the next show, X-Pac then stapled it to the wall for all the wrestlers to see.

A Flair For the Bold

   Ric Flair has been known to be a notorious drinker his entire career, living up to his wrestling persona, even well past his days as the leader of the Four Horsemen.  During the flight, Flair was reported to have been wearing a robe but nothing else on beneath it.  Throughout the flight, Flair was seen exposing himself to several flight attendants.  Some of them accused him of sexual assault, which was taken care of outside of court.  No one was surprised to hear about this, oddly enough.  

Exes and Oh-No's

   By the late 1990's, Dustin Rhodes and his wife Terri were separated and then eventually divorced. Although they didn't work with each other like they did during Goldust's initial run, they still were around each other.  Dustin had some personal issues going on during the time and like several others on board, he drank too much as well.  He got on the loudspeaker and started serenading his ex-wife. Terri was completely embarrassed and pleaded with him to stop.  It took head of talent relations at the time, Jim Ross, to get Dustin to stop and sit down.

No Incident Is Still An Incident

   Scott Hall, beyond his time as a wrestler, is probably best known for his drinking problem.  If not for Diamond Dallas Page in recent years, Hall may be just another statistic right now.  Hall was unhappy with his second stint with the WWF and his personal demons were on display.  Apparently, he was not a part of any incidents on the flight, although it was reported that he was shown to be belligerent before the flight and on the tour.  He was asleep for most of the flight but after it was over, Justin Credible helped him off the flight in a wheelchair, right in front of Jim Ross and the boss, Vince McMahon, who wasn't on that flight but was waiting for the roster to land.  Just a day or two later, Hall was fired.

Wrestling On a Plane

   Curt Hennig just made a tremendous comeback months earlier at the Royal Rumble with his Mr. Perfect persona.  However, Hennig was also known for his personal demons.  Drinking got the better of him as well, as he instigated a fight with newcomer at the time, Brock Lesnar.  They had known each other before Lesnar's debut due to both being from Minnesota.  Though Lesnar did nothing to start this, he took Hennig down in a slight wrestling scuffle that Triple H had to break up.  During the altercation, the two rammed into the emergency exit door.  Although the flight crew confirmed no amount of force could open the door, it was still very dangerous.  Although something like this occurred years earlier between Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon himself, this one was much worse due to its nature.  Much like Scott Hall, Hennig was fired days later.  Unfortunately, Hennig died just over a year after this.

My What-If Scenario

   A majority of the Raw brand superstars were on this flight.  Besides the people I've mentioned, others confirmed to be on the flight included the Big Show, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Undertaker, and Arn Anderson, who was working as a road agent.  However, on the tour during those first few days in May included Eddie Guerrero, Rob Van Dam, Stevie Richards, Shawn Stasiak, the Hardy Boys, William Regal, Spike Dudley, Booker T, Crash, Tommy Dreamer, Lita, Jacqueline, Trish Stratus, Molly Holly, Jazz, Paul Heyman, and Jerry Lawler.  It's likely that most, if not all of those people, were on the same flight.  The only Raw roster members not confirmed to be a part of the tour were Kevin Nash, Kane, Big Bossman, Bubba Ray Dudley. Raven, and D-Lo Brown.  Nash I know was injured at the time.  The others, since they weren't on any of the tour's cards, were most likely not on board.  

   What would have happened if the brawl between Hennig and Lesnar did in fact open the emergency exit door?  It would have at the very least sucked Hennig and Lesnar out of the plane, killing them, as well as the man that broke it up, Triple H.  It could have claimed the lives of more as well.  What if there was something wrong with the plane and it crashed, killing everyone on board?  What would have happened to the WWF?  That's crazy to even think about but I'm trying to put a scenario in my head of how the company would keep going after that.

   Let's just assume the six Raw superstars not on the tour were alive, as well as the entire Smackdown roster.  That would also include Chris Benoit, who was injured at the time.  Although he did show up on Raw a month later, he was originally drafted to Smackdown and wasn't on the flight. Other injured superstars at the time were Rhino and Chavo Guerrero.  The following were Smackdown superstars: The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, D-Von Dudley, Val Venis, Maven, Billy Gunn, Chuck Palumbo, Edge, Mark Henry, Billy Kidman, Tajiri, Chris Jericho, Albert, The Hurricane, Al Snow, Lance Storm, Diamond Dallas Page, Christian, Test, Faarooq, Taz, Hardcore Holly, Perry Saturn, Rikishi, Scotty Too Hotty, Ivory, Torrie Wilson, and Stacey Keibler.  With the Raw six and the injured wrestlers, this list includes 37 active competitors.  

   With the surviving staff, Vince McMahon would have had a lot to face.  Not only would he have lost half of his staff, he would have lost his wife as well.  It's almost impossible to speculate what would have happened or how McMahon might have handled things.  My intent is to talk about what I think might have been the plan going forward.  I would imagine that The Rock's presence would be needed a little more, even though his movie career was really starting to take off.  I also think Hulk Hogan would have been around longer as well.  It would have drastically changed the rest of the Pay-Per-Views that year, especially SummerSlam, having to figure out a new person for The Rock to pass the torch to in place of Lesnar.

   With so many wrestlers gone, I'd assume the roster split would end, at least for a while until more wrestlers debuted.  With only three active women, the Women's Division would probably end as well.  I also think some tag teams would have reunited, including the Dudley Boys and Edge and Christian, just to actually have a tag team division.  Later that year, the WWF changed to WWE and brought in several other people by the year's end; including John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Scott Steiner, Rey Misterio, Eric Bischoff, Rico, Jamie Noble, Nidia, Three Minute Warning, Zach Gowen, Shannon Moore, and Dawn Marie.  Shawn Michaels also came back from retirement as well that year.

   With all of the wrestlers including the ones that were brought in by the end of the year, this is how I would use the roster.  The main event superstars would be The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, and Shawn Michaels.  The mid-card guys going for the Intercontinental Title would be Scott Steiner, Chris Benoit, Diamond Dallas Page, Kane, John Cena, Randy Orton, & Batista.  The tag team division would include the Dudley Boys, Edge & Christian, Billy & Chuck, and Three Minute Warning, as well as other makeshift tag teams.  The lower card wrestlers would be D-Lo Brown, Val Venis, Mark Henry, Test, Rikishi, Maven, and Albert.  There were still enough wrestlers to fill a Hardcore division, including Perry Saturn, Raven, Taz, Hardcore Holly, Faarooq, Al Snow, and Big Bossman.  The Cruiserweight Division would still be intact, as it was a Smackdown exclusive.  This would include Billy Kidman, Tajiri, Chavo Guerrero, The Hurricane, Scotty Too Hotty, Rey Misterio, Shannon Moore, Jamie Noble, Lance Storm, and Zach Gowen.

   Though it would have been a massive blow to the roster and wrestling as a whole, Vince McMahon would have been strong enough and smart enough to keep his empire going.  Thankfully, no one was hurt that fateful night.  The worst of it were the firings of Curt Hennig and Scott Hall, and punishments for the others involved.  This could have been a huge tragedy and we're lucky no one was hurt or killed.  It's one of those stories that is shocking and entertaining, as well as a lesson to be learned.  Both those in the business and fans alike will always talk about the "Plane Ride From Hell!"

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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