Fifteen years removed the 9/11 attacks still sting every time the date on the calendar turns to September 11. In 2001, I was twenty years old, in college. Today, I’m a grown man with bills to pay. So much has changed since the towers collapsed. Hybrid cars. Text messaging. Facebook and YouTube. Google. Wikipedia as a replacement for the Encyclopedia Britannica. And this is just on the technological side.
Much like December 7, 1941, September 11 is a date that will live in infamy. 9/11 is part of our lexicon, for better or worse. As is ground zero, al-Qaida, Taliban, and -isms that are preceded with words like radical or extreme. The attacks affected our means of travel and communication, and how we looked at those among us.
This article isn’t about what occurred the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, but what happened two days later in Houston. While the attacks and their aftermath was one long uninterrupted news event, with some of the major networks providing nearly 95 hours of continuous coverage, sports organizations Major League Baseball and the NFL cancelled and re-scheduled games. But there was one sporting outfit that would not waver in the wake of tragedy.
The WWE.
Then known as the World Wrestling Federation, the WWE was to have taped its wrestling program SmackDown! in Houston, Tex., the night of September 11. The show was cancelled but two days later the sports entertainment giant presented a special live tribute show from Houston. Not only was this the first sports-entertainment event to occur after 9/11, it was the first major entertainment event in the U.S. Had this been a professional sport it would be lauded as a “This Day in History” moment. But because it was wrestling, it has been egregiously overlooked on a national level. Still, it remains one of the WWE’s signature moments.
The Compaq Center (originally The Summit, now the central campus of Lakewood Church) was filled to capacity as chairman Vincent McMahon addressed the crowd and television audience with an impassioned speech.
McMahon’s speech would be followed by Lillian Garcia’s emotionally-stirring performance of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” WWE superstars and employees stood on the stage and ramp leading to ringside. Some of these bigger-than-life personalities included Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, former WWE champion and current WWE color commentator John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL, for short), and Chris Jericho. Some held flags. Others shed tears. This was not a night dictated by feuds or bragging rights. This was a night for America.
Ten years after 9/11, WWE Hall of Fame inductees Jim Ross and Michael Hayes among others would offer insight as part of an oral history of the first SmackDown! after the attacks.
JIM ROSS: The WWE team was staying in a Houston hotel after Raw in San Antonio and preparing for the taping of SmackDown. We had a 7:45 a.m. production meeting scheduled in Vince McMahon’s suite to finalize our game plan. Vince, from his bedroom, yelled for us to turn on the television. Someone did and we all started witnessing the most tragic incident any of us could ever imagine. Honestly, it was much worse than I could ever fathom.
MICHAEL HAYES: I think Vince made the decision later that Tuesday night. He got with Lee Brown, who was the mayor of Houston at the time. It was a huge decision for Vince — a lot of responsibility on that.
JBL: We didn’t know what would happen. We didn’t even know if people would show up. And everybody showed up with an American flag. The place was sold out.
Regardless if you fall into the “wrestling is fake” camp you at least have to respect Vince McMahon’s bold move to present a live event a little more than 48 hours after planes attacked the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. For two hours, the men and women of the WWE presented a momentary distraction, displacing fear with patriotism.
The city of Houston has hosted WWE’s signature event WrestleMania on two occasions but this special episode of SmackDown! may very well be the company’s defining achievement during our nation’s darkest hour.
