Thomas Bugg Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I think Hogan stays and runs out of gas as champion around the time Magnum has his car accident. Hogan comes in to avenge TA and feuds with Koloff. Hogan vs Nikita would have been quite a dynamic program in the mid-80s, whether in JCP/NWA or in WWF. What if Nikita had gone up north after the Magnum car crash? Would Nikita/Hogan have been a big enough draw to pull in "93,000" into the Silverdome for Wrestlemania III? Highly unlikely. Oh they would've sold out the Cobo Hall in Detroit easily, but it takes a once in a lifetime guy like Andre and a well-booked feud to pull off 93,000 in Pontiac, Michigan.
Phantom Lord Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Would Mr T in the WWF have even happened without Hogan? I'm assuming yes since I'm going to believe that the whole Rock N' Wrestling thing would have still happened based on Capt. Lou doing the video for Cyndi Lauper. We still get Piper interupting the gold record ceremony at MSG. Mr. T jumps the rail and he still gets in Piper's face.
Niners Fan in CT Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Slightly off-topic but was it ever revealed exactly how many people were in attendance for WMIII? I think I read 70,000+ at one point. The place looked packed.
Hooks Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Would Mr T in the WWF have even happened without Hogan? I'm assuming yes since I'm going to believe that the whole Rock N' Wrestling thing would have still happened based on Capt. Lou doing the video for Cyndi Lauper. We still get Piper interupting the gold record ceremony at MSG. Mr. T jumps the rail and he still gets in Piper's face. I just assumed the T connection was from working with Hogan in Rocky III. Wasn't sure if T would have been involved in the Rock and Wrestling Connection at all if not for Hogan.
Petey Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I think it's only the one person who's disputed the 93,000 and said it was actually around 78,000. I don't know, but it looked closer to 93,000 than 78,000 to me when you factor in that it sat 80,000 for football and there were a TON of floor seats.
Dank Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I think it's only the one person who's disputed the 93,000 and said it was actually around 78,000. That one person being Meltzer, who got his numbers from Zane Bresloff, the WWE promoter at the time.
KidKash202 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 What if there was actually a WCW Cruiserweight title tournament back in 96
Petey Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I think it's only the one person who's disputed the 93,000 and said it was actually around 78,000. That one person being Meltzer, who got his numbers from Zane Bresloff, the WWE promoter at the time. I get that, but I find it odd that no one else since then has said something similar.
Sammy Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 What if WrestleMania was not successful? I assume whoever had the 6:05 timeslot would have been in control for a while. Wrestling, if I'm correct, would still have been popular and mainstream, so it's fair to say there would have been a power vacuum for control. Would Crockett still have been forced to sell to Turner? He would have had access to Hulk and would have only had Verne to fight with but would that have been enough for him to succeed? Let's say, JCP still has to sell. WCW may have been the #1 promotion in the US until at least 2001 and beyond maybe. Vince had already won the war by Wrestlemania. At worst, it would have still been successful as an MSG show because those shows still packed the house then. Yes he would lost a lot of money but he'd still have the usual Boston, MSG, Philly rotation to work with. He also had already poached the talent he needed and his competitors still wouldn't have known how to fight him. Crockett still would have been spending like mad with the pirvate jets and would have had to sell to Turner, keeping that history similar. I always thought the narrative was that Vince put all his eggs in the WMI basket, and that if failed he would have been broke. Being cash poor and having to cut back to his core towns would have certainly slowed down his national expansion, allowing for new competitors to rise. I'd guess that he would still have emerged as the only big time promoter in the end, but the territories would have a few more years to run.
Dank Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I think it's only the one person who's disputed the 93,000 and said it was actually around 78,000. That one person being Meltzer, who got his numbers from Zane Bresloff, the WWE promoter at the time. I get that, but I find it odd that no one else since then has said something similar. Yeah you're right. I guess the only analysis I can recall came from jdw and his ilk, who of course meticulously parsed every word Meltzer wrote and analyzed photographs to the point where no one ended up caring anymore.
Niners Fan in CT Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 It definitely looks like 80,000+ to me but were there any empty seats in the nosebleeds or anything? I wish I knew someone who was there. It looks like such an awesome place to have been.
rzombie1988 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 What if WrestleMania was not successful? I assume whoever had the 6:05 timeslot would have been in control for a while. Wrestling, if I'm correct, would still have been popular and mainstream, so it's fair to say there would have been a power vacuum for control. Would Crockett still have been forced to sell to Turner? He would have had access to Hulk and would have only had Verne to fight with but would that have been enough for him to succeed? Let's say, JCP still has to sell. WCW may have been the #1 promotion in the US until at least 2001 and beyond maybe. Vince had already won the war by Wrestlemania. At worst, it would have still been successful as an MSG show because those shows still packed the house then. Yes he would lost a lot of money but he'd still have the usual Boston, MSG, Philly rotation to work with. He also had already poached the talent he needed and his competitors still wouldn't have known how to fight him. Crockett still would have been spending like mad with the pirvate jets and would have had to sell to Turner, keeping that history similar. I always thought the narrative was that Vince put all his eggs in the WMI basket, and that if failed he would have been broke. Being cash poor and having to cut back to his core towns would have certainly slowed down his national expansion, allowing for new competitors to rise. I'd guess that he would still have emerged as the only big time promoter in the end, but the territories would have a few more years to run. That's always been the narrative and I think Meltz confirmed it as well. I'm sure he would have lost money on it had it failed but the system was already in place for success. He still would have sold out MSG for the show at worst and he still would have had his usual long time markets plus the new markets. He also still would have already picked the wrestlers he wanted from the other companies and still would have had the TV contracts and likely the fanbase, since they were doing good. That's why I can't see much changing. As you said, maybe it would delay things a bit but the other promoters were too inept and had already been beaten.
Matt D Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Foley walked out on his $3000 a month WCW contract in 94. I kind of wonder if he wouldn't have gotten a PPV or at least a Clash match against Hogan if he didn't. He had the association with Sullivan (they were tag team champions when he gave notice) and he would have fit the Faces of Fear/Dungeon of Doom perfectly.
muhammedboehm Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Not exactly a 'What if...' but, How different would the wrestling world be if the internet never took off?
cool arrow Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Foley walked out on his $3000 a month WCW contract in 94. I kind of wonder if he wouldn't have gotten a PPV or at least a Clash match against Hogan if he didn't. He had the association with Sullivan (they were tag team champions when he gave notice) and he would have fit the Faces of Fear/Dungeon of Doom perfectly. I could be waaaaaaaay off-base here, but I think they could've worked well together.
scraylo187 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Not exactly a 'What if...' but, How different would the wrestling world be if the internet never took off? We'd all be much more productive human beings. ;( 1
Matt D Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Foley walked out on his $3000 a month WCW contract in 94. I kind of wonder if he wouldn't have gotten a PPV or at least a Clash match against Hogan if he didn't. He had the association with Sullivan (they were tag team champions when he gave notice) and he would have fit the Faces of Fear/Dungeon of Doom perfectly. I could be waaaaaaaay off-base here, but I think they could've worked well together. Hogan always liked guys who he thought could make him look good.
cool arrow Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Exactly, and Foley's style was always more about big bumps than impressive offense.
Phantom Lord Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Would Mr T in the WWF have even happened without Hogan? I'm assuming yes since I'm going to believe that the whole Rock N' Wrestling thing would have still happened based on Capt. Lou doing the video for Cyndi Lauper. We still get Piper interupting the gold record ceremony at MSG. Mr. T jumps the rail and he still gets in Piper's face. I just assumed the T connection was from working with Hogan in Rocky III. Wasn't sure if T would have been involved in the Rock and Wrestling Connection at all if not for Hogan. I figure if Vince still had the deal with Dick Ebersol and NBC, T would have still been there as some cross promotion with The A Team. Of course no episode with Hogan. Piper and Ace would have made great villians on an episode though.
Tromatagon Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 I can picture Hogan doing his seizure sell of the Cactus apron elbow and man...it's pretty fucking cool looking actually. 1
cool arrow Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Damn it. Now I want to see Hogan vs. Cactus Jack. God damn it.
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 What if: i) The Savage/Steph rumours were true. ii) They publicly come to light iii) Savage does 18-20 in the slammer. He'd be getting out this year too. Savage doing a Max Cady gimmick towards Vince and family on the eve of Mania 30 would be something.
Tromatagon Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Well, considering Steph was over 18 when everyone said it happened, Savage would be in the free and clear
Petey Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 I think it's only the one person who's disputed the 93,000 and said it was actually around 78,000. That one person being Meltzer, who got his numbers from Zane Bresloff, the WWE promoter at the time. I get that, but I find it odd that no one else since then has said something similar. Yeah you're right. I guess the only analysis I can recall came from jdw and his ilk, who of course meticulously parsed every word Meltzer wrote and analyzed photographs to the point where no one ended up caring anymore. Haha, that sounds ridiculous.
LooseCannon Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Well, considering Steph was over 18 when everyone said it happened, Savage would be in the free and clear She turned 18 in September 1994. Randy Savage's WWF contract ended in October 1994. Does everyone say it happened in his last month there?
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