Wrestling What Ifs

[offspring515]

I'm not defending Hunter he's just the easy, go to example of an IWC boogeyman. It's just fun to see which guys get a pass. Maybe I'm harder on the Rock because I've never been much of a fan.

[offspring515]

I was so busy defending Hunter it made me double post.

[Hooker]

Right, but the point is that you're accusing people of having different standards for different wrestlers as if that's a damning indictment.  Of course there are different standards for different wrestlers; they're different people with different personalities and histories.  There were a handful of posts aghast that Davey Richards was selling an arm injury in the most recent Impact thread; would there be the same thing if Aries were selling an arm injury?

[offspring515]

Well I've failed to.communicate my point because I never felt it was a "damning indictment". As I said I'm not a fan of the Rock so I probably judge him more harshly than others. I'm admitting to being as biased as anyone else.

I just find the differing degrees of harshness guys usually get to be an interesting topic.

This is all way off topic though so I'll just write it off to me not making my point well and get back to the topic at hand.

[Cristobal]

Uh, yeah. It was Shawn Michaels. One, it's not like HBK was some young up-and-comer trying to make it in the business at the time that Rock didn't want to put over, and two, he was a massive dick to a whole lot of people.

Where did I imply that Shawn was an up and coming star at the time or that he wasn't a massive dickhead?

I'm just saying that if you put Hunter (or Nash or Hogan etc etc) in that story we'd be hearing "awww someone was mean to Hunter's gammy" jokes to this day.

Right. Circumstances don't matter. Ok.

[ReiseReise]

What if The Rock's movie career never took off?

What if Hogan´s actually did / he would have been out the same way Rocky was after his initial 4-year-run on top of WWF? Honestly asking myself if Warrior´s big title run would have come earlier or if someone totally different would have had a long run at the top.

[offspring515]

Uh, yeah. It was Shawn Michaels. One, it's not like HBK was some young up-and-comer trying to make it in the business at the time that Rock didn't want to put over, and two, he was a massive dick to a whole lot of people.

Where did I imply that Shawn was an up and coming star at the time or that he wasn't a massive dickhead?I'm just saying that if you put Hunter (or Nash or Hogan etc etc) in that story we'd be hearing "awww someone was mean to Hunter's gammy" jokes to this day.

Right. Circumstances don't matter. Ok.

Glad we agree.

[Victator]

Everybody gets one, maybe two if they wait.

[LooseCannon]

I'm not defending Hunter he's just the easy, go to example of an IWC boogeyman. It's just fun to see which guys get a pass. Maybe I'm harder on the Rock because I've never been much of a fan.

 

If an IWC discussion goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will bring up HHH.

 

[Cobra Commander]

So how much more/less shitty would the Dungeon of Doom/Hogan thing been if they just cribbed more elements from Kevin Sullivan's Satanic Army of Darkness Florida gimmick? just asking since i've been watching parts of a 2-video/4-hr long Sullivan in Florida YT post (Video 1, Video 2), which was essentially Sullivan v. Mulligan, with Sullivan's army hanging out at beaches and in a creepy flophouse, and stuff like that.

 

Also, Mark Lewin looked massive in that video, then I found Wikipedia claim he was 6'2. So I guess he just looked massive next to Kevin Sullivan.

[Thomas Bugg]

So how much more/less shitty would the Dungeon of Doom/Hogan thing been if they just cribbed more elements from Kevin Sullivan's Satanic Army of Darkness Florida gimmick? 

 

Oh Mark Lewin in his prime would've been awesome in the Dungeon, along with a young Giant. But you know Hogan had to have his butt buddies all over WCW, and it turned 1994's solid in-ring stuff in WCW to 94-95's shit-stained product. 

[Ron Wright]

So how much more/less shitty would the Dungeon of Doom/Hogan thing been if they just cribbed more elements from Kevin Sullivan's Satanic Army of Darkness Florida gimmick? just asking since i've been watching parts of a 2-video/4-hr long Sullivan in Florida YT post (Video 1, Video 2), which was essentially Sullivan v. Mulligan, with Sullivan's army hanging out at beaches and in a creepy flophouse, and stuff like that.

 

Also, Mark Lewin looked massive in that video, then I found Wikipedia claim he was 6'2. So I guess he just looked massive next to Kevin Sullivan.

 

It still wouldn't have been hot. Brother.

[Petey]

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but what if Austin didn't get injured at SummerSlam 97?

 

I'm watching the WrestleMania Rewind for WrestleMania 14 on The Network and there are some who suggest that Austin's injury was a blessing in disguise because WWF "forcing Austin to not work against his will" made Steve even more popular than he would have been if he were able to keep working like normal. And this isn't the first time I've heard WWE folks suggest that the injury might have helped matters. Do you guys think that's true or just revisionist history? If Austin didn't break his neck, would he have still reached such high heights?

 

Also, if Austin doesn't break his neck, do they still develop the punch-kick "WWF main event style" since its purpose was to allow Austin to modify his wrestling style in order to compensate for the neck?

 

Perhaps the better what if is what if Austin had to immediately get neck surgery and was out until the summer/fall of 1998?

[Captain Kronos]

Perhaps the better what if is what if Austin had to immediately get neck surgery and was out until the summer/fall of 1998?

 

All I know is that if we think Shawn and Hunter were insufferable in those days -- imagine how much more annoying they'd have been in 1998 after losing both Bret and Austin as foils?

[Brian Fowler]

The first stunner on Vince never happens without the injury.

[Raziel]

 

I'm not defending Hunter he's just the easy, go to example of an IWC boogeyman. It's just fun to see which guys get a pass. Maybe I'm harder on the Rock because I've never been much of a fan.

 

If an IWC discussion goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will bring up HHH.

 

 

Henry O. Godwin's Law?

[supremebve]

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but what if Austin didn't get injured at SummerSlam 97?

 

I'm watching the WrestleMania Rewind for WrestleMania 14 on The Network and there are some who suggest that Austin's injury was a blessing in disguise because WWF "forcing Austin to not work against his will" made Steve even more popular than he would have been if he were able to keep working like normal. And this isn't the first time I've heard WWE folks suggest that the injury might have helped matters. Do you guys think that's true or just revisionist history? If Austin didn't break his neck, would he have still reached such high heights?

 

Also, if Austin doesn't break his neck, do they still develop the punch-kick "WWF main event style" since its purpose was to allow Austin to modify his wrestling style in order to compensate for the neck?

 

Perhaps the better what if is what if Austin had to immediately get neck surgery and was out until the summer/fall of 1998?

This is absurd, Austin was not only the most over guy on the company, he was probably the best worker.  Keeping him out of the ring was in no way a good thing.  The only thing that I think it probably did was delay him getting the title, because based on the ratings, I think they would have given him the title before Wrestlemania.  I don't think the punch-kick style would be as prevalent because Austin was such a versatile worker.  The neck injury limited his mobility some and limited the bumps he would take significantly.  They started winning the ratings as soon as they put the belt on Austin, and they would have done it earlier if they could have.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

Well, assuming that the Montreal screwjob was legit.

 

The Owen feud finishes either at Summerslam or the PPV after. They then have a viable option for Bret to drop the title to Austin rather than Shawn, which gives a bit of closure to everything.

 

Build to Mania takes a completely different makeup, and no McMahon heel.

 

If Austin is out till summer of 1998, I assume they do HHH vs. Shawn. Not sure who is the face in that one..

[Petey]

I think Shawn's the babyface. It'd make the most sense to have HHH turn on Shawn to elevate HHH's status as a heel and get Shawn over as the big babyface until Austin could return.

[scraylo187]

What if the Harts had all of the politicking power that the Klique had? 

 

Instead of HBK, Hunter, Hall, and Nash calling shots and staying in Vince's ear backstage, Bret and the family had been running things?

[Raziel]

What if the Harts had all of the politicking power that the Klique had? 

 

Instead of HBK, Hunter, Hall, and Nash calling shots and staying in Vince's ear backstage, Bret and the family had been running things?

Nash might not get his long title run while Bret does midcard fueds with Lawler and Backlund (cool as they were).  Most importantly, the Attitude Era never happens so long as Bret's calling the shots.  Also, lack of push might hurt Hall and Nash's power to draw, making the nWo irrelevent, since that was all lightning in a bottle and couldn't be recreated with just any old people.  

 

Course, ECW still exists, so eventually Vince and Bischoff will poach talent, and start copying ideas that worked in that vacuum and apply them large scale to some degree of success, since the whole thing needs to evolve or die out.  Although, you'd have to wonder, without the nWo and bleeding money under Bischoff with the live Nitro's getting thumped by RAW, how long does Turner give Bischoff before he gets fired and someone else gets put in.

[Ace]

If Austin is out for a year after SummerSlam '97, I don't think Bret leaves.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

Can Vince still afford to honor Bret's 20 year contract though?

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

What if Ricky Steamboat turned heel and renamed himself Ricky Speedboat?

[SorceressKnight]

 

What if the Harts had all of the politicking power that the Klique had? 

 

Instead of HBK, Hunter, Hall, and Nash calling shots and staying in Vince's ear backstage, Bret and the family had been running things?

Nash might not get his long title run while Bret does midcard fueds with Lawler and Backlund (cool as they were).  Most importantly, the Attitude Era never happens so long as Bret's calling the shots.  Also, lack of push might hurt Hall and Nash's power to draw, making the nWo irrelevent, since that was all lightning in a bottle and couldn't be recreated with just any old people.  

 

Course, ECW still exists, so eventually Vince and Bischoff will poach talent, and start copying ideas that worked in that vacuum and apply them large scale to some degree of success, since the whole thing needs to evolve or die out.  Although, you'd have to wonder, without the nWo and bleeding money under Bischoff with the live Nitro's getting thumped by RAW, how long does Turner give Bischoff before he gets fired and someone else gets put in.

 

 

On the contrary- supposedly Bret was friends with Nash and Hall, but not with Shawn (and eventually Hunter)- so Nash would probably get his long title run, and enough of a push so Hall and Nash would mean something (and if they didn't, it's just as likely that a pushed-out Shawn would make the NWO Shawn/Hunter/Hogan instead.