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Another Attempt at a MARCH Wrestling Thread


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23 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

It's still pretty crazy to me how popular Luger was in 1997. Watch that Nitro where he beat Hogan for the title and listen to that crowd

Listening to Bryan and Vinny recap it they determined that when Luger lost the title soon after that was the beginning of the end for WCW.  Watching both matches I have to agree since I used to think it was Hogan/Sting that started the slippery slope.  They could have called an audible and  had Luger go a couple months with it before losing.  Or just not do it at all if they were going to go with Sting.

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13 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said:

Listening to Bryan and Vinny recap it they determined that when Luger lost the title soon after that was the beginning of the end for WCW.  Watching both matches I have to agree since I used to think it was Hogan/Sting that started the slippery slope.  They could have called an audible and  had Luger go a couple months with it before losing.  Or just not do it at all if they were going to go with Sting.

I think marking that specifically as the beginning of the end is a little too strong of a statement with some of the awful shit that followed, but I do have to agree with them that it was questionable at best. The interesting thing about that is that, while they continued teasing Hogan/Sting that summer, Hogan didn't work War Games and then had Piper at Havoc, so they could have easily kept it on Luger until WW3 before ramping up the build to Starrcade again.

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Who's to say TBS would have kept funding WCW if they never got Hogan etc.? They could've been dead within two years instead of seven. Who knows, though, maybe Austin, Foley, and Dustin Rhodes become stars way sooner and they put Vince out of business-- its not out of the realm of possibility. The key thing was not just signing name WWF guys, but making the TV look less shitty and regional. If Bischoff still does that, I think they could've MAYBE had a shot. 

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14 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

Who's to say TBS would have kept funding WCW if they never got Hogan etc.? They could've been dead within two years instead of seven. Who knows, though, maybe Austin, Foley, and Dustin Rhodes become stars way sooner and they put Vince out of business-- its not out of the realm of possibility. The key thing was not just signing name WWF guys, but making the TV look less shitty and regional. If Bischoff still does that, I think they could've MAYBE had a shot. 

Well yeah, that's why I said it was a catch 22.  Hogan, etc put them over the top but ended up killing the company.

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48 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

Who's to say TBS would have kept funding WCW if they never got Hogan etc.? They could've been dead within two years instead of seven. Who knows, though, maybe Austin, Foley, and Dustin Rhodes become stars way sooner and they put Vince out of business-- its not out of the realm of possibility. The key thing was not just signing name WWF guys, but making the TV look less shitty and regional. If Bischoff still does that, I think they could've MAYBE had a shot. 

Were there rumblingz that TBS was going to pull the plug?

What I think about is what does 1998 WWF look like if Austin/Cactus arent let go.

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1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

Well yeah, that's why I said it was a catch 22.  Hogan, etc put them over the top but ended up killing the company.

Right, just musing about the possibility they never went to WCW at all, def not arguing against your point

1 hour ago, JohnnyJ said:

Were there rumblingz that TBS was going to pull the plug?

What I think about is what does 1998 WWF look like if Austin/Cactus arent let go.

What a great question. I think probably the worked shoot angles come earlier (not necessarily full Attitude Era, but think Owen knocking Shawn out with the enziguri or Diesel's post Survivor Series promo about not having to kiss babies anymore). Maybe the Kliq drives Bret to WCW earlier when his deal is up in 96. 

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Without Stone Cold and Mankind, The Rock never takes off as those were two of his biggest feuds that helped put him on the map. Heck, they probably would've stuck with the massive face push of Rocky Miavia. Same could be said for HHH as well. Without the Cactus Jack/Mankind feud, does HHH ever really become The Game?

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Montreal was the deatch of WCW.

You have the hottest guy in the biz coming in after the hottest shoot moment in history and he does nothing of real substance before falling back into the mid card under Hogan and the nWo. This is where he was in the early 90's and it made them look dumb.

Hart as the "REAL" world champ going after Sting's title (while the nwo implodes fighting each other as well as Page and Goldberg) should have been the obvious path.

If you cant take advantage of Bret fn Hart in the aftermath of the screwjob then you aren't going to book anything right.

On the other side Vince got to pull bavk the curtain and have his moment with the "Bret screwed Bret" promo leading to the Mr. McMahon character being born. A character that helped Austin, Rock, Foley and Triple H all become the top main event talents that put WCW out of business.

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With no Hogan then Hall and Nash definitely would have ruled the roost.  In that case do Michaels and HHH go as well, or do they stay so they don't have to share the spotlight with anyone in WCW?  Or as mentioned above, does the Kliq stay and Bret just leave?

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On 3/20/2017 at 5:39 PM, The Green Meanie said:

This didn't really qualify for the Old School Questions thread, and it's something that's been bugging me recently.

It's been said that Otunga's theme was originally set to be used for Justin Gabriel, but the lyrics are specifically mentioning a powerhouse wrestler, not the high flying-type Gabriel was. I'm wondering what the story was behind this and if there are any other examples (such as Orton using what would later become C.M. Punk's theme for one week.)

Not sure the story but I recall this as well. Gabriel actually did use it first on an episode of Smackdown, then I think they quickly realized it didn't quite work and Otunga was using it the next week.

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This may get backlash, and that's okay, I'll take it, given it just happened. But, god damn it, wear a helmet. Whether you think it's cool not to, or if it's inconvenient to you, think of things like this and many other instances where it would've prevented permanent injury or death in past instances.  

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10 minutes ago, PetrolCB said:

This may get backlash, and that's okay, I'll take it, given it just happened. But, god damn it, wear a helmet. Whether you think it's cool not to, or if it's inconvenient to you, think of things like this and many other instances where it would've prevented permanent injury or death in past instances.  

You're right, but I'm not so sure about saying it right at this moment. You seem aware of that but now isn't the time.

My heart sank seeing his tweet. I can't imagine how he's feeling but I hope he's got lots of good people around him. So very, very sad.

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Without Hogan signing, Bischoff doesn't give Vince a reason to care or compete. 
Without Hogan signing, Bischoff probably doesn't get Nitro.
Without Nitro, they probably fly under the radar of the various Time Warner execs that wanted it gone and it still is seen as Ted Turner's little hobby farm.
Without Nitro, they probably continue to do the tapings at Disney, and continue making small, modest profits.
Without Hogan and Nitro, they probably don't feel the need to carry on the momentum and sign Hall/Nash

In that space however, Austin probably still gets fired (by both his and Bischoff's admission), Foley probably still leaves anyway. You probably end up with Dustin Rhodes as the face of the company instead however. Think both promotions end up in a lacklustre crawl to the bottom, with WCW better insulated from the storm by not touring as frequently. If anything, ECW survives and competes better in a much more competitive/even playing field.

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