Cyndi Lauper vs WWE

0:00 Hello all, James here. Now, a few weeks ago, I did a video explaining as best I could why Miss Elizabeth was not in the WWE Hall of Fame. Then, a story came out yesterday as I record this. It might be a couple of days after when this video was released, uh, that reminded me of perhaps WWE's most glaring omission for their celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame, Cindy Lorer. Now, for the first time ever, WWE and Mattel are releasing an official Cindy Lorer figure packaged in a sweet CRT television package along with Rowdy Rody Piper and her on-screen father, Captain Lou Albano. I should actually say this, uh, Mattel has released a Cindy Looper figure before, but not in conjunction with WWE. This is a WWE'se's first official figure for Cindy. Now, I've also got to say, here's

0:46 a closer look of the figures. has been quite kind to Lou Albano with the belly size here. But all in all, a super sweet package celebrating Cindy's debut on WWF television 42 years ago uh this month in fact as well with the Mattel figures being announced in conjunction with the San Diego Comic-Con which is being held next week. Now when I say Cindy Looper is a glaring omission to the WWE Hall of Fame, as I said at the top of the video, you might have one of two reactions. Number one, you mean Cindy Looper isn't already in the WWE Hall of Fame? Or number two, why would Cindy Looper be in the Hall of Fame? She made like a couple of cameos. Well, if number two, there is your argument. That's all WWE Hall of Famer Aussie Osborne ever did. And also, if you think that Cindy doesn't deserve

1:32 the accolade of being in the Hall of Fame for WWE above almost any other celebrity currently in there, you clearly do not know what you're talking about. And I'm going to explain why. Not only was Lorer a semi-permanent presence on WWF television in 1984 and 1985, Cindy was such a boost to the WWF rock and wrestling package that she really was one of the main components. She along with MTV, which wouldn't have happened without Cindy in the first place, was the rock in the rock and wrestling connection despite her actually being more of a pop musician, albeit somewhat of a subversive one. Now, between her and Mr. te the following year. Two massive worldwide icons at the time and at the peak of their celebrity powers, their respective

2:17 popularity, they lent Vince McMahon's WWF promotion an untold amount of pop credibility and access to mainstream opportunities not afforded pro wrestling since at least the early 50s, if ever, in the United States when wrestling was regularly featured on network television. Now, numerous MTV crossovers with major specials and wrestlers appearing in music videos, Saturday Night Live hosting gigs, mainstream news coverage, the show where Hogan choked out Richard Bellzer. Cindy Lorett deserves at least partial credit for the WWF becoming a household property named property because of how big a deal she was in the pop world and just how much of herself she threw into the role. Now, beside Hulk Hogan, Rody Piper, Vince

3:03 McMahon, of course, and maybe Mr. T, Cindy Lor was more important to the WWS rapid rise in the public consciousness than anybody else during that period. Or maybe, how about this? To quote Lance Storm, WWE HOF discussion, uh, Cindy Looper does not deserve to be in the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame. She deserves to be a fullfledged member of the Hall of Fame. She was a pro wrestling manager and her popularity and MTV tie-in played a huge role in the success of the Rock and Wrestling Connection. To the beginning then Cindy got into wrestling via a chance encounter with Captain Lou Albano during a flight while she was still with her previous band Blue Angel. Cindy and Lou got on like a house on fire, probably in no small part because they're both

3:48 oddballs in real life as well as on camera. Cindy's manager at the time, David Wolf, was a massive wrestling fan, and he was kind of determined to keep the whole wrestling connection alive through Cindy's burgeoning solo career. For longtime wrestling fans, David Wolf was part of numerous WWF shows accompanying Cindy Looper and also briefly managing the fabulous Freeirds, also during one of their only brief WWF run. Anyway, when gorgeous George wasn't available to play Cindy's father in the Girls Just Want to Have Fun video because he had the prior engagement of being dead as he had been for the past 20 years. He was actually the first choice. By the way, Captain Lou got the gig at Cindy and David's insistence. Now, from there, Wol worked out a deal with Vince McMahon to play the girls

4:34 just want to have fun video on WWF television shows. And in return, Cindy Looper plugged the WWF shows on the Johnny Carson show. Well, tonight, whatever it was actually called. Anyway, on the WWF side, Lou Albano in character claimed that he was responsible for making Lorer a household name and a massive music star and that he even wrote the lyrics to Girls Just Want to Have Fun, the breakout song for Cindy and he could bring Cindy out onto a future episode of Piper's Pit. And then when Lou didn't produce her, David Wolf actually debuted on WWF TV first and went on Piper's Pit to claim that Lou was a liar. He wasn't managing Cindy Lorer, but David Wolf himself would bring Cindy out onto Piper's Pit soon. Now, this wasn't all just benefiting the

5:21 WWF here. Cindy herself had been told that uh the cover, and yes, it is a cover of Girls Just Want to Have Fun. A pop standard today wouldn't be radio friendly and wasn't going to get any radio play because her singing voice was too high. Now, David Wolf, who really deserves a huge amount of credit here, figured that the Albano WWF crossover could mean alternative distribution for the music video since they were struggling to get any play and convincing any radio executives to put the song on their stations. Now, that meant that the music video would be played three times per week on WWF television, including on the nationally televised cable network, USA Network, uh, on WWF's All-American Wrestling Show that they bought from Joe Blanchard the year before the slot. Anyway, David Wolf

6:08 did indeed bring Cindy to Piper's Pit on WWF's All-Star wrestling show in June of 84. And once again, Captain Lou insisted that he was Cindy Lor's manager, which uh in the end, Cindy was saying, "Come on, Lou, you know that's not true." And eventually uh Cindy whacked him with a handbag and then tore Piper's shirts. Now, from there, Entertainment Tonight somehow thought this was real and they actually played it like it was a real confrontation as well. So, they played it and then the WWF Looper connection with the music video was played as well. And with a quick follow-up release of the single Time After Time, which hit number one in the US, Cindy all of a sudden became the hottest music act in the world practically. The WWF

6:53 distribution model really was partly responsible for her success, her rapid success in the pop world. This truly bizarre but entirely symbiotic relationship would then go on and on and on for nearly a year. In fact, probably actually more than a year considering Albano and Lorer then continued to feud with through other wrestlers, I should say, between the fabulous Müller and Wendy Richtor. And they would second their respective wrestlers with the two grappling over the WWF's women's championship that Vince McMahon had only just bought the rights to from Muller back on May 19th, 1984. This was already an interesting choice, by the way, because women's wrestling outside of Japan was essentially a traveling sideshow, like with the Midgets at this point. They'd come in,

7:39 do a quick loop, and then they would move on to the next territory. Uh, thanks to Cindy's association with uh WWF and Vince McMahon. You can also argue that she is responsible for bringing women's wrestling to the WWF forefront decades before Stephanie McMahon even invented women's wrestling. Think of that. I won't give the whole story of Cindy's run with the WWF, but suffice to say that she was all over WWF television at the time, from vignettes, where she helped Wendy Richtor training to managing Wendy to WWF Gold and Madison Square Garden in the main event of MTV's brawl to end it all, ending Muller's over 10,000 day run as women's champion. That is if you ignore all the times fabulous Müller lost and then won back that title. Cindy would keep on

8:26 returning uh to the WWF when she wasn't touring or recording or whatever other million things she had on her plate at this point, well beyond when it stopped benefiting her own career. So why did Cindy stick around the WWF for so long? Well, her explanation was that it was fun for starters, and it was also the only place where Cindy and David, her boyfriend, as well as her manager at the time, were treated fairly equally as on-screen characters rather than Cindy herself being the sole focus. Beyond the wrestling ring, the WWF connection continued in Lor's music career as well. Captain Lou was featured on no less than four of her music videos. Number one, of course, uh, Girls Just Want to Have Fun as Cindy's dad. Number two, Time After Time, as Lou was a short order cook.

9:12 Number three, Shebop in a brief cameo along with Wendy Richtor. And number four, The Goonies Are Good Enough, which also featured just about every major WWF wrestler of 1985 and 84 in that video. But then Captain Lou also had a speaking part in the extended version kind of mini movie to accompany that song. All great co-promotion, of course, but the WWF then continued to play Cindy's videos on their television, on syndication, and on cable nationwide in response. By the end of 1984 though, Captain Lou would turn babyface by defending Cindy's honor on Piper's Pit and then later on during an award ceremony for both Lorer and Captain Lou for raising over $4 million for multiple sclerosis that then became part of an

9:58 angle featuring Rody Piper and Cowboy Bob Orton. Aside from MTV's water settled the score in February of 85 and Wrestlemania in March of 85, Lorer was also present for the first ever Saturday night's main event in the May of 85. And then basically that was it with Cindy and the World Wrestling Federation. Lorer would make one more in-person live appearance during this era. It was a bizarre, sparsely attended outdoor Puerto Rico show. It was a house show as well uh or more or less a house show. It was filmed uh managing Wendy Richtor to mid weeks before Vince and Müller conspired to screw Wendy Richtor out of the WWF women's title and then unceremoniously fire her from the company. And yes, I will make a video on

10:45 that one day. That show was also the same event where heavy rainfall uh landed during it and then created seriously hazardous working conditions that featured on WWF blooper tapes with everybody slipping and falling. And that same show was also the show that Hogan claimed that he was cornered in his hotel room or wherever uh or backstage, I don't know, uh in Puerto by the Puerto Rican mafia apparently and then told never to come back to the island. I mean, he told this ridiculous story on the Joe Rogan Experience a few years back. Now, Lorer would appear one more time as well as Mona Flambe in the Land of a Thousand Dancers music video that debuted on the third iteration of Saturday night's main event that November. That was just a few weeks after the Puerto Rico uh event in

11:31 October. Uh but I think that video was probably filmed weeks, if not months earlier. And that was really the very last of Lorer or David Wolf or any association the two really had with Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation. So why did Cindy Lorer stop making appearances with the WWF? Well, unlike what you might believe, it wasn't entirely her choice or even David Wolf's. Uh while promoting the Mattel figures a couple of days ago, she let slip something a bit interesting. Looper recently said that her relationship with the WWF got weird due to problems with licensing. Now, this is further backed up by Sun Cindy Lor's 2012 memoir where it was apparently Vince McMahon's lust for money that caused Cindy to break it

12:17 off with the WWF. Quote from the book, "When I had the True Colors listening party in New York, I invited a bunch of wrestlers because they were part of my family as up as they were. But the whole wrestling thing had gone to because Vince and the World Wrestling Federation crew had turned into these weird, greedy people who pushed Dave and me out. So not too long after the party, I decided to end the whole wrestling thing. I got a lot of for being involved in wrestling from the critics because it wasn't serious. So somehow it made my music less serious. But I don't think that was the case at all. And I stand by that. Honestly, this rings really true uh to me for other stories I've heard because Sergeant Slaughter's thirdparty licensing deal that he got with Hasbro for the G.I. Joe figure in 1984. Slaughter refused to cut uh Vince

13:04 McMahon or the WWF into the Hasbro deal as so that was really why Sarge got fired from the WWF in ' 84 despite being essentially the second most popular baby face behind Hogan at the time. that and Vince's deal with LJN for upcoming figures and the whole McMahon not liking the idea of one of his independent contractors getting paid a lot of money by a third party company and making his own deal and kind of he felt that that would upset the apple cart with the rest of the roster. That all tied into Sergeant Slaughter's unceremonious release. That's going to be another video as well. The further explanation to this is that after Vince McMahon screwed Wendy Richtor out of the WWF Women's title and fired her in, I think November of 85, once again, that was all over money as well. There was no real

13:50 reason to bring Lorer back to the fold. At least that's one explanation. David Wolf himself uh was much more kind to the WWF when he was asked for quotes, claiming it was simply a natural disillusion of the relationship over time because Cindy really had her own stuff to focus on and the WWF was going from strength to strength without her. Cindy was also involved with Hulk Hogan and Captain Lou and Rody Pipe and stuff like that. So, if they wanted to use her, I'm sure there were plenty of ways that Cindy could have been wedged into WWF storylines without Wendy Richtor. To wrap this all up though, uh, without Cindy Lorer and David Wolf involved, personally making the pitch, by the way, David Wolf personally made the pitch, the WWF would have never got on MTV in

14:35 the first place in middle of 84. They ended up getting two major specials that laid the foundation for Wrestlemania. The law by uh by the way the lawtor versus Albano Müller match was what the show was built around the initial show uh not the Hogan Greg Valentine bout that uh opened up the show. The women were the main event of a major show. This probably the first time it happened. If it never happened in the early 50s, this was the first time it ever happened in the WWF or anywhere on mainstream wrestling in the United States. The WWF also made sure to associate Cindy with Hulk Hogan at this time uh in promotional photos. She even managed him in one match and then even brought Hulk Hogan on as her bodyguard

15:23 to the 1985 Grammy Awards that year that was also in February of 85. Hogan stood behind the Dominion of Lorer as she accepted the award for best new artist. You couldn't ask for a better way to introduce Hulk Hogan once again to the mainstream if they hadn't seen him before. Now, without MTV, the rock and wrestling era wouldn't have accelerated anywhere near as quickly uh the WWF's dominance in the genre. Arguably, Wrestlemania may not have happened without all the momentum from the MTV specials that David Wolf himself pitched to MTV with Cindy Lorer at the forefront. Maybe there wouldn't have even been a cartoon. Lorer, and it cannot be overstated this, Lorer lent so much mainstream credibility to the WWF. It is very hard to overstate her

16:09 importance to that brand, to that promotion. I also think that it sucks that Cindy has been left out of the cold instead of getting recognized by the WWF, WWE for her contributions like she deserves. Quote from Wendy Richtor. I'm just hoping that someday she'll be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the celebrity division. I mean, she's done more for wrestling than any celebrity has. And that maybe not Muhammad Ali, maybe not Mr. T. I can't really think of anybody else. I mean, more than Donald Trump, I would suggest, more than most people, I would suggest in the celebrity wing. That is my case for inducting Cindy Looper into the WWE Hall of Fame. And that's also potentially an explanation as to why she has been passed over for that accolade for so long. Basically, because she and

16:56 Vince McMahon had some kind of fallout over licensing and money. Here's a fun fact for you before I leave, though. Wendy Richtor was also once married to former wrestler and WWE Spanish announcer Hugo Savanovic. I only just learned today. How about that? That's the video. Hope you enjoyed it. I will see you soon for another