Despite this, there's a lot they want you to forget.
Hello, I'm Matt Shanahan, and this is me attempting to cram every bad moment in WWF:G into the smallest list I possibly can, and there probably should be at least 9 more entries but I don't have the time or energy to dig THAT deep.
... I mean, hello, I'm Matt Shanahan, and this is 11 10 Things G-Feds Want You To Forget About WWF:G.
11. The Bank Defaults
No, we're not talking about the actual bank, we're talking about the Money in the Bank here! The Money in The Bank has become a staple match in WWF:G's history, and the winner is almost always skyrocketed into fame!... except for every time that they failed. Unfortunately, the Money in The Bank winners have rarely gone on to actually winning a title, with Cyrus Everblaze being the only man to do so in recent years by cashing in on Matt Shanahan's WWF:G Legacy title reign back in 2014. While everyone else wasted their shot or squandered it away at the worst times, at least Cyrus Everblaze managed to use his shot properly; we can only hope that this year's winner will do the same.
10. Two Near Deaths in One Pay-Per-View.
While near-death angles happen from time to time (especially in a guild like WWF:G), it doesn't change the fact that WWF:G allowing TWO near-death angles to occur on a single Pay-Per-View was a bad move. While both were completely believable and impacted their stories in major ways, both taking place at a Pay-Per-View called "Sacrifice" might not have been in best taste. In the one-off Pay-Per-View, not only was Matt Shanahan buried underneath the rubble of an imploded titantron, but Cartwright was hit by a car at the end of the show! Both Legacy and Bad Boy proved that they were top-tier heels that show, but the fans left feeling more worried for the faces of the company than they should have.
9. The Cherry Picker
Unconventional match finishes are always pretty awesome. They catch everyone by surprise (except for the little jerks who get their hands on spoilers), and tend to leave lasting impressions on everyone's mind; especially when they happen at WrestleMania.
... Especially when that moment is the Money in The Bank.
Back in the year of 2010, which feels like a century ago, WWF:G was a completely different guild, and Money in The Bank had a completely out of the world finish, that most were not okay with. With probably the ultimate display of making other competitors feel powerless, Claire Hawkins was deemed winner of the Money in The Bank match when Chrono Clepsydra came out with a cherry picker, and lifted the newcomer up into the air to retrieve the briefcase. As epic of a moment as it was, many people did not take kindly to Chrono interfering with the match, and most would view this as one of the lesser Money in the Bank matches; they'd be wrong, but you can't change all the opinions of the people who aren't even here anymore.
8. Almost Every Royal Rumble.
I say "almost" every Royal Rumble because every couple of years, the Rumble has a fine finish. There's little to no drama, and everyone has a grand time; however, this is far from the usual. The Rumble is typically subject to a good deal of drama and "what the ********. Whether politics are at play or the competitors just make it a total ********, it's a rare occurrence that the Rumble isn't seen as a dark spot on nearly every year.
Especially that time Hiro Shin-Mozas won it and proceeded to main event one of the worst Main Events in WrestleMania history, THAT WAS BAD.
7. More Ownership Changes Than Any Other Guild.
You thought I was just going to call out the competitors? Oh no, that's not going to happen. With a company that's been established for well over ten years, ownership of the company has rarely managed to be established for more than a couple of years. The company was originally in the hands of "E Rock" Rich Oakland, a man who is infamously referred to as a s**t leader and a politics master, but aside from maybe 3 people in the community, no one even remembers the man's name. No, most actually see the mastermind known simply as Jed to be the most known owner of WWF:G. Some would argue that Jed was one of the best guild owners of all time, some would argue that he was one of the worst; as it stands, he managed to lead the guild for over half a decade even with all of his ups and downs. Subject to proclamations of politic-playing, Jed was never too popular with his employees; after all, if you weren't with the boss, you were against him. Under his reign, many of WWF:G's best and worst moments took place, and he will always be remembered as one of the most controversial owners in the history of G-Feds.
However, it doesn't stop there. Near the end of his reign, powerplays began to take hold within the ranks of WWF:G, mainly involving the ever infamous Chrono Clepsydra. While the master was away, Chrono was at play, and he was doing everything he could to keep WWF:G's train rolling, and hoping to show that he could easily run the company if Jed would hand it to him. He proved to be a solid General Manager for the company, much to many people's surprise due to his feelings towards it, but... he was left with nothing, as Boxer Anarchy was given full owner of the company.
And Boxer proceeded to do nothing with it.
So, from there, Salem Croft (we all remember him, yes?) staged a "revolution" and took hold of the legendary business. Many were unsure of how he would run the company, being as he was a newcomer to the craft, but he was determined to silence the naysayers. He inspired a new wave of female competitors, rebranded the company's main product, annnnnnnnnnnnnd...
... Did nothing else of note.
Yep, probably the most controversial owner of any company in recent years, and the main reason for it was because he was extremely unreliable; along with his desire to compete AND run the show at the same time. Of course now, the company is in the hands of Freakshow!..
Oh? Uh, I mean The Rose Company? Rose Studios? Rose Cabinet Drawers? This writer doesn't know, it's honestly a bit too perplexing to me. But one thing's for sure: the company's ownership status has gone through more mood swings than a teenage girl.
6. Hiro Shin-Mozas Molested and Killed a Child.
We honestly don't want to talk too much about this moment because it's honestly one of the most offensive moments in WWF:G history. It was a very bad thing and they should not have allowed it, AT ALL. Once again Hiro, as much as we love him, DOES A VERY BAD THING. VERY BAD. What made it worse?
IT HAPPENED AT WRESTLEMANIA.
Please, read if you dare.
5. The TNA and ECW Brands.
A long time ago, WWF:G tried to be a lot more than... well, WWF:G. There were separate brands, massive Smackdown vs RAW pay-per-views, and then there was...
The "TNA" and "ECW" Brands.
While not much actually remains of them, mainly because of how dated the brands were at the time (they started literally a decade ago), we do have two permanent reminders of the whole thing: the Backstage area thread for TNA, and the one for ECW. Sure, if you dig hard enough, one might be able to find the fabled tales of WWF:G's in-house brand competitors; but let's be honest, these threads are probably all we need.
4. Mike Landry "Rapes and Kills" Phoenixfire.
While we don't know the out-of-character dynamics of these two current-day lovers, we do know that during Mike Landry's feud with Malice (who this writer believes was just Chrono in a mask), he decided to take a very dark, twisted turn for the worst. To be blunt, he raped and killed the woman of interest in the feud, Phoenixfire. While she would later come back, revealing herself to be very much alive and filled with vengeance, the fact that this angle occurred and shocked so many of the fans show that maybe they pressed the envelope a little TOO far. Regardless, this feud will always be remembered as one of the best to happen in the halls of WWF:G, and it definitely earned all three their spots in the Hall of Fame.
3. The God of Time DELETES TIME!
If there was any doubt in someone's mind that Chrono is NOT the God of Time, you can stop doubting that NOW. From the year of 2013 to just a few months ago, Chrono put all of that to rest by literally making all championship history up until 2013 disappear from the website and archives. No matter where one searched, the title history of almost every WWF:G title, defunct or active, was gone!
On a more serious note, how it actually went down was as Chrono was being kicked out of the door for "misconduct", he deleted all of the history on the company's website along the way. While this writer wasn't particularly impacted by this, apparently the two owners after Jed (Boxer Anarchy and then Salem Croft) were beyond cross about it. They saw it as a childish move and waged war against The God of Time for quite some... time. The history was quietly given back to the company once Salem Croft lost control of it, thus making it seem like the whole 2 year debate never even happened. However, this writer will always remember the time that Chrono Clepsydra literally made time disappear.
2. The WWF:G Rebranding(s).
WWF:G's main product today is of course "Legacies", aptly named after the WWF:G Legacy Championship. While it sends the proper message of "Here, you can make a legacy for yourself!", this is far from how their product used to work. In fact, their product used to highlight the fact that things were changing...
... and changing...
... and changing some more.
The company's original brands were, as we've mentioned, RAW and Smackdown (and TNA and ECW, although they were shortlived) were the original brands. However, once both shows were faced with dwindling rosters, they were combined into The Supershow! To their credit, the Supershow lasted for well over 2 years, accumulating over 40 episodes of the brand. However, when the numbers began to dwindle once more, winds of change were quick to blow.
So the show was renamed "The Reboot", in an attempt to show that Jed was looking to change things in WWF:G! How long did that last? About 8 episodes, all of which were rather lack-luster. So starting in late 2013, they decided to rename the show once more, and Chrono Clepsydra coined it as the Era of Change, or EOC for short. The Era of Change was probably the shortest era in WWF:G history, and was soon renamed "Legacies." How long will Legacies stick around though? No one knows for sure.
1. The Mass Exodus of 2012.
With a company like WWF:G, and an owner like Jed, one can expect many issues along the way. Booking problems, politics, and general bad blood caused many negative moments in the company's storied history; however, none expected them to come to a head like they did.
In January 2012, things finally spilled over and WWF:G was not able to keep its dirty laundry hidden anymore. Lead by Malice (Chrono), an exodus from the company occurred. This wasn't just some nobodies or mid-card people either; it was established players in the company. Malice, Matt Shanahan, Harli Drummond, Nuke Fusion, Kelly King, Omega (formerly known as Kid Omega), Claire Hawkins and Matt Draven all left the company, citing all of their issues with then owner Jed on their way out. Everyone assumed it was a work, or that they would come back the next night to see their issues resolved.
NOPE!
That night, Jed served every single person involved in the promo their termination papers. (Dion Necurat was also served his papers for simply being in the camera shot, but the decision was turned over after he pointed out that he was not associated with the movement. He did end up leaving shortly after.) WWF:G lost many of their established stars that night, and it would impact the company's future forever!...
... And by forever, we mean roughly a year. Yes, within a year, almost every person that walked out was seen in the company before the next WrestleMania. Kelly King and Matt Shanahan returned to have their epic stand-off, Nuke Fusion returned to challenge the The Dragon himself, Jarel Damone, Dion Necurat appeared in the main event against Hiro Shin-Mozas and Talon, and Chrono Clepsydra was back in the backstage area, pulling every string he could at the time. While it sent a shocking message, there's a reason no one mentions it when all those names are brought up.
This has been my list on things that WWF:G doesn't want you to know about it's history/things you probably already didn't know or forgot! Did you like the list? Did you hate it? Was there something you felt deserved to be on the list as well? Feel free to let me know in the comments below!
Now taking requests for characters/guild lists! No list is impossible!
[Note: I was informed that #11 was wrong, as Hiro Shin-Mozas was the last person to cash in and win during the month of December 2015. Apologies for the confusion.]
