Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Wrestling What Ifs


Web Conn

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

What if Road Dogg was kia when he was still active duty and never joined DX? Do they still find someone to tag with Billy Gunn? Would DX still go through the "revamp" with Xpac & NAO w/o him? I guess I'm really asking if you can slot anyone else into his role in DX that would get as over with catchphrases/ etc. as he did?

 

Don't know if this got asked, but what if Richie Steamboat never had to retire from injuries, and actually worked on improving himself?*

 

What if Randy Orton never got into wrestling, say he never goes awol* and he stays enlisted/active duty til he hits retirement? Does the lack of Orton have any impact on the 'E?

 

*In the nxt/fcw doc i think they gave Richie a mention that he just didn't have the heart for the industry and didn't really try to make it all connect not just in the ring but in his head too

 

*Going off shitty memory that Orton was active duty then went awol and not too long later pops up in OVW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Road Dog question is really tough. I bet they'd team Billy up with someone else, but I don't see them getting as over as NAO with Road Dog did. Bradshaw could talk, they just hadn't figured that out yet. Maybe him? A few years later, K-Kwik!

I see Ritchie with two different trajectories. Either getting as far as Harry Smith did in WWE or as far as Seth Rollins did.

No Orton would mean way longer reigns for Cena, HHH, Undertaker, maybe HBK, Angle etc. They could have given his spot to Mark Jindrak or Sean O'Haire, but that would not have had the longevity of Orton's run near the top. I don't if it would have a drastic financial impact, or creative impact but the landscape would look quite different without Orton. Ken Kennedy and Kofi would probably have been bigger deals. Maybe Mick Foley stays retired...yeah, no.

Edited by Shartnado
Typo and grammar
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sting refusing to job to Funk??? That sounds crazy, as all of the other guys out of that mold not named Dick Slater loved him. And I respect Gary Hart but anybody who worked for Fritz Von Erich for years might not be the most trustworthy guy. He sounds so sincere on the WCCW DVD though...Idk. Sting jobbing to Funk made 0 sense also. 

He did refuse to job to Vampiro, but that was obviously way later. And talk about a primadonna turd jeeze.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/3/2020 at 9:59 PM, Hayabusa said:

Don't know if this got asked, but what if Richie Steamboat never had to retire from injuries, and actually worked on improving himself?*

 

*In the nxt/fcw doc i think they gave Richie a mention that he just didn't have the heart for the industry and didn't really try to make it all connect not just in the ring but in his head too

Richie could go. He was green but he had 'it'. I have no idea why they threw shade at him in the FCW doc, but he was def a hard worker. He just came through the system at a shitty time where they didn't want fire, they wanted 100 monotonous Randy Orton clones. If he came through the system any time other than when he did, and his body held up, his ceiling was at least high end Dolph Ziggler level on the main roster. Flirting with the main event, probably not THE guy, but consistent upper card.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Road Dogg is really underrated as far as being an on air-personality. When the "new" DX formed after WM14 The NAO were by far the most over part of the group (HHH was the least over, despite being the leader) and the Road Dogg's entrance spiel was a major part of their appeal.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What if Mass Transit had bled out in the ring?

Jack would be in jail, Heyman might face charges as well, or at least would have been bankrupted by the eventual lawsuits. ECW shuts down at that point, and regardless of what Heyman has to deal with afterwards he's probably done in the wrestling business which means all the stuff he does in WWE from then on never happens. Eddy, Dean, Benoit, and the Lucha guys had gone at that point, so I'd think most of the upper card goes to WWF/WCW earlier than they eventually did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, HumanChessgame said:

What if Mass Transit had bled out in the ring?

Jack would be in jail, Heyman might face charges as well, or at least would have been bankrupted by the eventual lawsuits. ECW shuts down at that point, and regardless of what Heyman has to deal with afterwards he's probably done in the wrestling business which means all the stuff he does in WWE from then on never happens. Eddy, Dean, Benoit, and the Lucha guys had gone at that point, so I'd think most of the upper card goes to WWF/WCW earlier than they eventually did.

I would question if Heyman would have faced charges.  There's no real statutes in Massachusetts that say you can or cannot wrestle at a certain age and there were witnesses on hand that heard Kulas tell Heyman that he was 18 years old.  

And as much as I hate to say it, I question if New Jack would have ever been found guilty.  It's pro wrestling, but it's a slippery slope legally to find New Jack guilty of killing somebody in a 'performance' particularly when there were plenty of witnesses that heard Kulas ask New Jack to gig him.  I think it would've done the world a favor to have New Jack in prison, but I just have my doubts that would have happened.  

The civil suits would have been against New Jack, but he simply wouldn't pay them and knowing how pro wrestling is, he would still find work in states where athletic commissions don't exist or have no power over pro wrestling and he would have increased his 'rep' as this homicidal maniac.  

Heyman would have been protected against civil lawsuits as ECW was incorporated under HHG Corp and in all likelihood their insurance would have paid out any settlements or judgments.  Of course, this does beg the question if they were insured as Heyman would have been the type that would not have been insured. But, ECW was still owned by Tod Gordon at that time and Tod wasn't reckless enough to not be incorporated and insured.

One of my conspiracy theories of wrestling is that I believe that Heyman was helping book the WWF when he was still in ECW and the WWF started to make their run.  I think he basically had meetings on the phone, alone with Vince and ran ideas and concepts by Vince and Vince took the majority of those ideas in.

 

 

 

HoC

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mass Transit did sue New Jack. He lost. Apparently he kept changing his story while giving evidence and the Jury took a dislike to him. Now, if he'd have been dead and his family was suing Jack instead, maybe they'd have had a better chance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stupid thought popped in my head just now, what if the 2009 swine flu outbreak had been COVID-19 levels of bad and wrestling was forced to go without crowds for a period of time and most promotions miss months of shows? NJPW running two Tokyo Dome shows helped them weather the shutdown early in the year. WWE was able to make due with their multiple training facilities. Would we have had Raw running out of FCW? Possibly no CM Punk title reign and the Jeff Hardy feud? Does Daniel Bryan even become a thing? At the end of the year Hogan and Bischoff go to TNA, that may not happen if TNA is struggling due to a pandemic. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

What if The Big Show/The Giant had been consistently booked well throughout his career? I mean, the guy has done great for himself, but what if he got that Andre booking where he was really protected and didn’t turn every month? With him having the size, mobility and personality, he seems like the poster boy for money left on the table. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Log said:

What if The Big Show/The Giant had been consistently booked well throughout his career? I mean, the guy has done great for himself, but what if he got that Andre booking where he was really protected and didn’t turn every month? With him having the size, mobility and personality, he seems like the poster boy for money left on the table. 

Show was young & way too eager to please when he came to WWE.

He didn't realise he needed to sign his deal then tell Vince to go fuck himself in order to get any kind of respect from the guy.

I think that with his charm & athletic ability he could have been something very special.

If they didn't want him taking the world title then a huge run with the IC belt works.

Have him get DQd or counted out in World title matches but keep the IC belt on him for a year from debut. He can fall a couple of weeks short of HTMs record (if we are adamant in keeping that in tact) then win it back & go again.

He also needs to win a Rumble. More should have been made of the 2000 Rumble IMO but Rock/HHH was the money feud with Austin gone.

So yeah, massive near unstoppable IC title run. Have XPac, Too Cool, Funaki, Jericho, Benoit, Angle, Eddie etc all bouncing off him while making sure the matches go 10-15 mins & Show stays in shape.

When the roster splits he gets a big World Title run and then transitions into the tag team division and a part time attraction.

Teddy Long has a new meme as dastardly heels have to "Go one-on-one wit da BIG SHOOOOW!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure it's been asked but what if Punk hang around through Mania 30 for the match with Triple H?

That was always the rumoured match and it would have been a semi main event pay day.

I wonder where that leaves Bryan, both at Mania but also in the build up.

Does he stick with the Wyatt's and play a role in the Cena match? Or does he turn on Bray later and they fight? Where does that leave Cena?

Would people power still be pushing for Bryan in the world title scene?

What of the rematch with Sheamus?

Punk walking away could be one of the all time perfect "sliding doors" moments for WWE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What if Crockett tries to get started on PPV a year earlier at Starrcade 86 instead of 87?  I know WWF had a few PPVs but without Wrestlemania 3, is Vince able to pull the same shit he did a year later to sabotage Crockett's show?  Would they still go with Nikita, who was fresh off his face turn, or if not, what would be an option strong enough for their first PPV main event? If they still go with Nikita, I have to think that they give him a win since it would be their 1st PPV instead of doing the non-finish.  I wonder if it would be less of an slap in the face to the Mid-Atlantic fans running Chicago the next year if their debut PPV is in Greensboro/Atlanta.

Edited by evidence
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Not sure if this was covered before, but what if, for whatever reason, the first Iraq War/Operation Desert Shield never happens. I'm guessing this means that Sgt. Slaughter does not turn into an Iraqi sympathizer and the top heel in the company in late 1990.

So...what do you think Vince had planned for WrestleMania VII? Is the general consensus that it was to be a Hogan/Warrior rematch?

If that's the case, does Warrior vanquish Savage at Royal Rumble 91' (instead of dropping the title to Slaughter as he did)? What does Savage do then? I assume the plan was always to have Savage turn face at WrestleMania VII and reunite with Miss Elizabeth, but I'm just not sure if you get the same emotional impact after a Retirement Match against, say, Jim Duggan or the Big Bossman. Maybe they pull Roddy Piper from being in Virgil's corner and use him instead? I feel like Piper/Savage in 91' is as close to a "second main event" as Warrior/Savage was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, DMJ said:

Not sure if this was covered before, but what if, for whatever reason, the first Iraq War/Operation Desert Shield never happens. I'm guessing this means that Sgt. Slaughter does not turn into an Iraqi sympathizer and the top heel in the company in late 1990.

So...what do you think Vince had planned for WrestleMania VII? Is the general consensus that it was to be a Hogan/Warrior rematch?

If that's the case, does Warrior vanquish Savage at Royal Rumble 91' (instead of dropping the title to Slaughter as he did)? What does Savage do then? I assume the plan was always to have Savage turn face at WrestleMania VII and reunite with Miss Elizabeth, but I'm just not sure if you get the same emotional impact after a Retirement Match against, say, Jim Duggan or the Big Bossman. Maybe they pull Roddy Piper from being in Virgil's corner and use him instead? I feel like Piper/Savage in 91' is as close to a "second main event" as Warrior/Savage was.

Remember they booked the LA Coliseum for WM7 before WM6 took place, I'm sure they pencilled in Hogan-Warrior 2, but by the end of spring 1990 I can see Vince wanting to go another way. WM6 didn't do as well PPV wise as they thought it would so Vince might have been leery at bringing that match back a year later, plus both make to much money merch wise to turn one of them heel, so having that twist to the rematch is a no go. At the start of the summer it seemed like Hogan's track was the feud with Earthquake, then his new best buddy Tugboat turning on him sometime in later in the year, would Hogan-Tugboat be a WM co-main? I'm not sure, maybe the plan even without the war was Hogan-Slaughter and Warrior-Savage, Sarge was a mainstream name and Vince needed to fill a 100,000 seat stadium. 

If they did Hogan-Warrior at WM7, I can see Bossman getting the match with Savage, he was the third most over face in the company and could work his ass off. Also maybe they do face Jake vs. heel Savage, both are such established longtime stars that the consequences of a retirement match are just as big as Warrior-Savage.

I always thought that without the war Vince would have ponied up the money to have a big name celeb team with Hogan, who that would be I have no idea, but if the plan for Tugboat was for him to turn heel in late 1990 then a Natural Disasters vs. Hogan & celebrity as the WM7 main event makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know you’re just spitballing there, @Mister TV, but I wonder who could’ve filled that celebrity role? I’m just drawing a blank on who would fit there and would also move the needle enough to make the payday worth it. Arnold? Maybe Tyson a few years early? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Log said:

I know you’re just spitballing there, @Mister TV, but I wonder who could’ve filled that celebrity role? I’m just drawing a blank on who would fit there and would also move the needle enough to make the payday worth it. Arnold? Maybe Tyson a few years early? 

Just looked it up, Arnold was still shooting T2 so there's no way they could have gotten him. I think either Stallone or Bo Jackson would have been Vince's next choice, Stallone was on the downswing(WM7 was between Rocky V and Oscar) so maybe he takes a big payday to work WM, big guys like Earthquake and Typhoon just doing fat guy spots to him is safe and his rep as a "tough guy" wouldn't get that tarnished since The Natural Disasters are comic book style monsters. Vince would have sold his kids to get Bo Jackson at the height of "Bo Knows" in the ring, but I doubt the Royals would have allowed it and even if they did it would have had to be scrapped since the hip injury happened that January. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, man. I had lapsed as a fan a little after WMVI. Bringing in Bo would’ve been huge for me at the time. I was a huuuuuge Bo Jackson fan. Going by how good he got at everything he tried, he probably would have been an amazing pro wrestler. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...