Web Conn Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) On 6/15/2020 at 1:23 PM, Super Ape said: It's now and forever "what if they gave Monty Brown a run with the NWA title?" This one. I started thinking about this and went down a fantasy booking wormhole. If they had put the strap on Monty Brown I wonder how it would have went. At the time in TNA and I was watching Impact, they had started to dissolve the Kings of Wrestling trio of Jarrett Nash and Hall. If Brown won the strap in January then what happens? This all factors in on if Hall stays past Final Resolution. But you keep The Kings of Wrestling going they could have added Billy Gunn and Xpac to the faction when they showed up in February, put DDP Monty and 3LK as a team. Run Brown vs Nash then Brown vs Hall then the big Lethal Lockdown between the two factions then DDP turns on Brown and you have that big match in May. Then idk Brown loses it during the King of the Mountain. The biggest issue is and was when it all went down is what to do with Monty Brown afterwards. That’s what happened in real life they had no idea what to do with Monty to build him back up. Joining Team Jarrett was a mistake. The Trytant shit didn’t help him either. And finally I don’t know what kind of an impact (ha!) Brown as Champion would have done for the ratings or buyrates it general interest in TNA. 4pm Friday evenings on regional sports channels is not an ideal time slot. But Brown would have been fresh and exciting compared with Jarrett and his one dimensional Memphis ways. Edited June 18, 2020 by Web Conn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evidence Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, Web Conn said: And finally I don’t know what kind of an impact (ha!) Brown as Champion would have done for the ratings or buyrates it general interest in TNA. 4pm Friday evenings on regional sports channels is not an ideal time slot. But Brown would have been fresh and exciting compared with Jarrett and his one dimensional Memphis ways. I'm not as anti-Jarrett as most but that Monty turn, especially after how everyone was behind him at the Final Resolution PPV, was the most frustrating to watch in real time. I remember him retaining the NWA Title against Raven was considered a bad move by just about everyone that was covering NWA-TNA at the time, but they really dropped the ball with Monty. I think if he gets the belt, at best, Monty keeps it until they debut on Spike TV when they reset back to the same old with Jarrett as champion again. One of the best things about Kurt Angle's arrival was that they didn't have to keep going back to Jeff Jarrett for the babyface chases the heel story. Edited June 18, 2020 by evidence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolCB Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 8 minutes ago, evidence said: I'm not as anti-Jarrett as most but that Monty turn, especially after how everyone was behind him at the Final Resolution PPV, was the most frustrating to watch in real time. I remember him retaining the NWA Title against Raven was considered a bad move by just about everyone that was covering NWA-TNA at the time, but they really dropped the ball with Monty. Monty got a raw deal. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 The problem with Monty Brown as a specific What If? is that ultimately it was a symptom of a far bigger problem TNA always had, and because of that bigger problem, it honestly wouldn't have mattered if they gave him the title. The same What If? that didn't give Monty Brown the title could have also been said for AJ Styles, Ron Killings, Samoa Joe, James Storm, Bobby Roode, Chris Sabin, Eric Young, Abyss, Magnus...pretty much any TNA homegrown talent, and all those guys DID get a World Title reign. The big issue was less "TNA won't give them the World Title!" because in many cases, they totally did, and more specifically, TNA wouldn't give this homegrown wrestler THE CAR KEYS. TNA always was willing to push homegrown wrestlers- even make them World Champion, but they never quite went all-in with the wrestler and made it clear "this wrestler is a SUPERSTAR. They are every bit as good or better as the WWE stars, and they should be perceived as being on the same level as the top WWE stars." It says something for how little awareness TNA had when the "AJ Styles is going to leave with the TNA World Title!" storyline could be boiled down to, even in storyline, AJ Styles taking TNA to task and saying "wait, I've been the star of tomorrow for 11 years now, I've done literally everything there is to do in this promotion five times over...when do I get to be the star of TODAY?", and even then they continued to do the same thing even after it was a plotline. Compare that problem to the real issue, and Monty Brown's what if was less "he should've been the World Champion" and was the relatively reasonable "Maybe Monty Brown would have, but suddenly TNA lucked into locking up Christian, both Christian and Monty Brown had pretty equal resumes in 2005, pretty equal momentum in 2005, the fans were dying to see both guys as World Champion in 2005...so it was effectively a coin flip for which one you run with." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 6 hours ago, PetrolCB said: Monty got a raw deal. Don’t you waste your breath (waste your breath). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 Everything @SorceressKnight said is absolutely correct. There was a ceiling for the homegrown guys in TNA. It’s like they were never gonna be on the same playing field as ex-WWE and WCW guys. That’s what fucked up the hot Frontline vs MEM angle is Team 3D Foley and Rhino become the focal point of the Frontline and guys like AJ and Joe took a backseat once again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 I think you could make a long list of times when TNA dropped the ball, but the biggest one will always be Angle over Joe. I’m. It a Kurt fan but I don’t doubt Kurt was ready and willing to put Joe over. Not doing so out the gate was flat idiocy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Any time it seemed like TNA would get some momentum they would always shoot themselves in the foot. Raven not winning the title when he first came in and Monty not winning the title are two prime examples. TNA is the biggest what if ever. What if they did this. What if they did that. It could have been something special with it being a hybrid of ECW/WCW which is what people were looking for back then (at least I was). But all it ever really did was have Jeff Jarrett live out his dream of being Jerry Lawler in Nashville. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tromatagon Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) 23 minutes ago, The Man Known as Dan said: I think you could make a long list of times when TNA dropped the ball, but the biggest one will always be Angle over Joe. I’m. It a Kurt fan but I don’t doubt Kurt was ready and willing to put Joe over. Not doing so out the gate was flat idiocy. This is what killed the company for me, honestly. I was pretty goddamned into it before this point. Usually I'll hate a booking decision and recover pretty quickly, but this one just bummed me out. Like, okay, you built this home grown star for like one or two years so the first thing you did was job him to a big WWE guy as soon as you got one. Dude never recovered. Started walking around with a dick tattooed on his face and shit. Edited June 18, 2020 by Tromatagon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 On 6/3/2020 at 4:22 PM, olythegreat89 said: I don’t know if Flair and Rude’s egos would’ve allowed them to coexist. Rude left the WWF with a chip on his shoulder because he felt he was misused so I don’t see him playing second fiddle to Flair. Maybe we get a Dangerous Alliance (Rude, Eaton, Zbyszko, Austin) vs a babyface Horesmen (Flair, Arn, Pillman, Tully?) this is old, but I think the real interesting money is Flair calling his greatest rival Ricky Steamboat for help. Even more fun if you imagine Arn is actually with the DA at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 The Joe over Angle thing was bad, but honestly I am steadfast that push Kaz suddenly got to the main event against Kurt Angle was even worse, IMO. That, to me, was the more blatant one, because he was the one TNA homegrown who left TNA, went to WWE temporarily for three weeks and flamed out quickly, then went back to TNA, and suddenly gets a main event run. In the process, TNA basically said "nope, the homegrowns don't have it. If the homegrowns are so good, why aren't they in WWE? If a homegrown wants to be big, leave TNA for WWE, then come back and we'll push them." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningBeard Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 I never had much of a problem with Kurt going over Joe, he was a huge get for the company and a big name so it makes no sense for him to job straight away and you had the problem of ending his undefeated streak. The amount of jobs he did to Angle afterward is where I have my issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningBeard Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 I’ve been on a bit of a Gary Albright kick recently, what happens if he doesn’t die in 2000? WCW and ECW was gone, NOAH was formed but never really promoted foreigners, what options are there for him? Zero 1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 What if Linda becomes part of the Reagan cabinet not Trump's? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Massive deregulation that destroys small business still occurs either way? I think Albright may have ended up in NOAH. They still had the occasional Bison Smith in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 On 6/15/2020 at 12:57 PM, SorceressKnight said: Well, considering that claims from around the time period said that Randy Savage was one of the top bookers for WWF when he left (and many saying as high as "Savage had the book when he defected to WCW" Source? I have never heard this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 I forget where I heard the "Savage had the book when he jumped to WCW" thing- I think it was in claims of the tapestry to counter the Savage/Stephanie rumor (alongside how the simplest explanation of "When Savage jumped to WCW, he took the Slim Jim endorsement deal with him"). I'm sure I heard that as a claim, though. As far as the Joe/Angle thing- even if they had Joe and Angle, it'd probably have even worked better if they just swapped the results of the first two Joe/Angle victories. If you have Angle beat Joe first, then "Angle destroys Joe , the most dominant TNA homegrown, snaps his undefeated streak, and proved the best TNA homegrowns aren't in the league of the best WWE guys. The next month, Joe beats Angle, and suddenly Angle's buzz dissipates since- if Angle proved the TNA homegrowns aren't in his league, and then Joe beats Angle, how good must Kurt Angle be?" By contrast, if Joe beats Angle first, it's "Samoa Joe finally got solidified- he's the most dominant TNA name and he's every bit as dominant as the top WWE guys, and then Angle digs deep, fights hard, and manages to slay the dragon of Joe." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReiseReise Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 On 6/19/2020 at 9:39 AM, BurningBeard said: I’ve been on a bit of a Gary Albright kick recently, what happens if he doesn’t die in 2000? WCW and ECW was gone, NOAH was formed but never really promoted foreigners, what options are there for him? Zero 1? I'd like to think he may get a shot in New Japan, although I'm not sure since he isn't a shootfighter per sé. Maybe he joins Pride? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 I think Ring Of Hell speculated that Savage was on the booking committee when trying to piece together the affair. She wasn't on the road, so most likely whatever happened happened at his house during booking meetings by the pool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianS81177 Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 On 6/18/2020 at 2:35 PM, The Man Known as Dan said: I think you could make a long list of times when TNA dropped the ball, but the biggest one will always be Angle over Joe. I’m. It a Kurt fan but I don’t doubt Kurt was ready and willing to put Joe over. Not doing so out the gate was flat idiocy. For me it was not putting the belt on Raven when he first debuted and challenged Jarrett 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olythegreat89 Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 I've seen this image a few times, but last night it popped into my head and I couldn't help but fantasy book. What if Razor and Diesel leave the WWF like it happened in 96 but never show up on Nitro? From May-June 96, they do interviews saying they've signed with WCW; they have negotiations in real life with Bischoff who think they're a shoe-in, but in reality they've resigned with Vince. The night after KOTR, Razor and Diesel come through the crowd and show up on RAW. They cut a promo saying they're going by their real names now and they're taking over starting with the top. HBK cuts a promo the next week saying he's the #1 man in the company and if they want to take over they have to go through him. He say's he's beaten them before and he'll do it again. Week 3 Raw, Hall and Nash challenge HBK to a 3 on 3 tag match at the next "In Your House: Takeover." They say they have a third man and the takeover starts at In Your House. Week 4, HBK accepts and has Ahmed Johnson and Ultimate Warrior as his partners. At the start of the IYH ppv, HBK is found knocked out in the parking lot. The main event turns into a traditional tag match. Towards the end of the match, there's a ref bump, Warrior's making a comeback on Hall and Nash and HBK arrives cheering on the Warrior. Warrior lifts Hall up for the press slam and SUPERKICK! They cut a promo similar to the end of BATB 96, and instead of the NWO or DX, it's simply the Kilq (HHH and Waltman join later). Austin is still on his rise and plays the DDP role with Hall and Nash trying to recruit him but he stuns them... DTA. Bret makes his comeback at Survivor Series 96 as the surprise member of team WWF vs the Kliq. He taps out HBK in the sharpshooter ending Survivor Series which leads to their rematch at the next IYH. The Kliq interfere like crazy and HBK retains. Bret becomes irate and is able to convince Owen and Bulldog to join him in his fight against the Kliq (Anvil and Pillman join later). WWF in 1997 is set with the Kliq vs Hart Foundation, Austin vs everybody and Undertaker will find a way to work himself into the equation. Okay, I got that out of my system. *wipes forehead* 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodyChamp Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) Pretty freaking good stuff there. The HBK IYH promo would have been epic because they would have done it right. “Stick it” was just fucking weak. I know they were still working within the confines of many things but that really keeps that from being perhaps best complete heel turn of all time imo. And they kept repeating it for the next 3 years like it was their equivalent to Austin 3:16 or something. Ugh... Edited June 23, 2020 by BloodyChamp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolCB Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 What I like about that idea, is that unlike the NWO, The Kliq would probably just be only those guys and wouldn't have a million people Virgil in it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodyChamp Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 LOL Virgil. He was a good worker I thought when he was young in Memphis. I also recently learned he was a good amateur. I guess he mailed it in after being in the WWF so long. The NWO B team could have worked imo, similar to how all the TV shows with more characters than others work when done right. It was so poorly done though and worse so obviously thrown together just because those guys sucked so bad. I actually remember a low point in 1998 or 99. Virgil hadn’t wrestled since his WCWSN main event match against DDP in 1997 I think, and he comes out for the token Goldberg squash on Nitro. And he he never wrestled again to my knowledge (granted I abandoned ship in mid99 and I do remember reading he got a new gimmick...maybe he wrestled with it). If there was ever a moment that gave away exactly what they didn’t want to give away. Goldberg vs Virgil basically spelled out that this guy in the top group is expendable, which is why he’s in the B team, but we can’t give away that it’s a B team so we didn’t pick anybody else. And as for Goldberg you already know what we’re doing with him. Stay tuned for Bobby Blaze next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolCB Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 1 minute ago, BloodyChamp said: And he he never wrestled again to my knowledge (granted I abandoned ship in mid99 and I do remember reading he got a new gimmick...maybe he wrestled with it). I can't remember if he wrestled, but he did become Curly Bill in the West Texas Rednecks that year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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