The What If Topic...

[cabbageboy 0]

Borga's act was too inherently lame to last very long. Oooh, a Finnish heel. I'm so scared. Truth be told I barely recall when he was released. He would have likely ended up jobbing to either Luger or UT in a feud, and then been gone anyway.

[alfdogg 0]

He broke his ankle against Rick Steiner just before the Royal Rumble in '94 and was never seen again.

[JN News 0]

What if HHH never retained the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania 16? What if The Rock had beaten Triple H to win the title on that night?

[AlexPuma 0]

Honestly, nothing would change but the story and promos leading up to Backlash. I think Rock vs. Triple H with Austin as the ref would still happen, and the DX Express will still be demolished. But overall, nothing would change but make WrestleMania 2000 actually look better in hindsight because the ending of the show really sucked.

 

EDIT: The real question would be to ask:

 

1) What if Mick Foley won?

2) (the more interesting option) What if Big Show won?

[cabbageboy 0]

Big Show was never any sort of an option to win at WM 16. He should have never been in the match.

 

I actually recall an idea I had about Foley winning the title at that PPV, then retiring again right after it. It would be a big celebration in the ring, Foley relinquishes the belt the next night on Raw, then they do a mini tourney with Rock vs. HHH obviously being the final at Backlash. They could do the same Austin as ref angle. I still don't know why they didn't do something, anything but what they ended up doing.

[Diamonddust 0]

Here's one (My apologies if it's been posted before):

 

What if Turner doesn't buy-out Crockett?

[cabbageboy 0]

If Turner doesn't buy out Crockett then basically we get 2001 circa 1989 instead. The WWF would have been the only real viable major promotion out there, with maybe stuff like USWA still carving out a regional niche.

[Diamonddust 0]

If Turner doesn't buy out Crockett then basically we get 2001 circa 1989 instead. The WWF would have been the only real viable major promotion out there, with maybe stuff like USWA still carving out a regional niche.

 

Going off of that, what NWA/Crockett talent do you think would have gotten over in the WWF at the time?

 

-Flair would have been one of the key prizes for Vince

-With Sting in the company, what becomes of The Ultimate Warrior? Does Vince do the usual thing and have Warrior remain in his push since he was Vince's "creation"?

-What about Sid Vicious? It would be interesting to have seen him in a position like this.

-What of Lex Luger? Does Steamboat go back?

 

Interesting threads to play with here...

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

With Ted Turner willing at least to broadcast wrestling on his networks, I'm certain a company would at least get national airtime. Perhaps we get a resurgent AWA, or Global takes off.

[Timmy8271 0]

AWA wouldn't work because Turner would probably want Verne to get in the 90's and not the 50's like Verne always was. I'm guessing Turner would have worked with Jerry Lawler's Memphis promotion with World Class Merging.

 

Here's one:

 

What if Ric Flair had left NWA in 89 and Arn and Tully had stayed in 89, Would we get a Horsemen reunion in WWF? What if Flair had Stayed in 93?

[cabbageboy 0]

Eh, that's a bit far off in time periods to really wonder about. I suppose it could have happened but by 1993 the Horsemen really weren't that relevant anymore.

 

The AWA and WCCW were both basically screwed by the time Crockett sold out to Turner. I can't see Turner bothering with either as a solo venture, and also the USWA formed around this time anyway. I think Turner would have certainly taken a chance with that promotion since it was still going fairly strong, had a solid fanbase in parts of the south, and would fit well on TBS.

[Boxer 0]

This is a REAL stretch, but what if McMahon was pissed off enough about the nWo drawing ratings that all the WCW guys he took in, Steve Austin, Marc Mero, Vader, Mankind, Pillman, etc........ and formed his own group of former "WCW" stars to counter the "nWo".

[Diamonddust 0]

This is a REAL stretch, but what if McMahon was pissed off enough about the nWo drawing ratings that all the WCW guys he took in, Steve Austin, Marc Mero, Vader, Mankind, Pillman, etc........ and formed his own group of former "WCW" stars to counter the "nWo".

 

Wouldn't have done anything against the NWO. The only real big name at the time was Vader since he was a former World Champion. On the flip side, Hall and Nash were two huge stars in the WWF, which helped establish the invader/outsider angle even more.

[AlexPuma 0]

Aside from Vader, Brian Pillman, and to a stretch, "Wildman" Marc Mero, none of the WCW guys were the same characters that they were in WCW. Mankind was very different than Cactus Jack, and so was Stone Cold/The Ringmaster very different than Stunning Steve. It just wouldn't work, unless they got Sid involved and signed another big name.

[Guest Hadley]

1. What if Lex Luger actually did win the belt at summerslam 93? Would he keep it all the way up to WMX? Would we see a bret/luger main event?

 

2. Heres an odder one. Lets say that Hogan loves wrestling in Japan so much in the early 80s that he decides not to go back to the AWA, but declines wrestling in America again and essentially becomes like stan hansen and wrestle exclusively in Japan.

[Timmy8271 0]

1. What if Lex Luger actually did win the belt at summerslam 93? Would he keep it all the way up to WMX? Would we see a bret/luger main event?

 

Most likely it would have been the same as it was with Luger in the Yoko position.

 

2. Heres an odder one. Lets say that Hogan loves wrestling in Japan so much in the early 80s that he decides not to go back to the AWA, but declines wrestling in America again and essentially becomes like stan hansen and wrestle exclusively in Japan.

 

He would have still gone to Vince. Vince knew how much money he could make with Hogan.

 

Here's one: What if Shane Douglas had stayed in WWE as Dean Douglas? Would ECW been the same?

 

[cabbageboy 0]

I actually think Luger would have jobbed the belt back to Yoko shortly after Survivor Series on Raw, something like that. Then they would do the same stuff that they did anyway. In fact I dare anyone to tell me why something like that wasn't done.

 

As far as Douglas goes, his 1996-99 stint in ECW was largely crap. It's odd saying this as he did win the TV belt and the world title, but his matches mostly sucked and he was hurt for nearly all of 1998. By 1997 they had guys like RVD stepping up and along with Sabu, Taz, Dreamer, Sandman I think the company was still in solid shape. Solid for ECW anyway.

[Boxer 0]

What if Luger turned heel and sold out to the Million Dollar man?

 

Do we have a hot heel who can challenge Diesel, Bret, Shawn, etc..... or do we have a stale heel with no heat?

[Timmy8271 0]

He'd probably be in the Sid role and challenge Diesel for the belt. He still would have left for WCW when he didn't get the belt.

 

What if Hogan had won at Starcade 97?

[Boxer 0]

He'd probably be in the Sid role and challenge Diesel for the belt. He still would have left for WCW when he didn't get the belt.

 

What if Hogan had won at Starcade 97?

 

That's an easy one, because in reality, he really did win and WCW died.

 

But if the won in the actual match, there would be a proper rematch, but they would probably bait and switch it and have BRET HART walk out the new WCW Champion at Souled Out.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

What if...One of his early Nitro matches Goldberg was booked to lose a match.

 

Even if its a "no loss of heat" manner (DQ, run in causing Goldberg to lose the match, whatever) does the Goldberg machine still have the same effect without "The Streak?" Does the fact that Goldberg is not undefeated give the public the perception that he can do more than 3 minute squashes and therefore accept him as more than just an unstoppable beast that can not get hurt.

 

That perception probably did more to hurt Goldberg considering the way he was treated after the streak ended and his time in the WWE as all he seemed to be was a one-trick pony.

 

Face it, the character Goldberg probably really shouldn't have been pushed as far as he should have. Probably should have been more of a 911 role than someone being used to carry a company. I mean marks would really say Goldberg would "kill" Austin in a "real" fight, only because Goldberg was booked as a main eventer even though the character was FAR from being someone who could carry a main event storyline of multiple PPVs and such.

 

Speaking of a 911 role, shortly after Goldberg debuted, or maybe the same night I don't know, they did the bit with Rick Rude having Hennan, Tenay and Tony do the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" "bit" Considering how much The Brain was fawning over Goldberg in Goldberg's matches, I thought for sure one week Goldberg would be Hennan's "bodyguard" That would have been a good role for the character, and would have set up a nice mini-feud with an nWo B-teamer who tried to pick a fight with the broadcast crew.

[Richard 0]

They would probably do the streak anyway and pretend that loss never happened. And by probably, I mean definitely.

[Timmy8271 0]

What if Goldberg and Lesner had stayed in the WWE after Mania 20? Would we have gotten Austin/Goldberg/Lesner for Backlash?

[TheFranchise 0]

I don't imagine so, if they were going to have Austin wrestle, surely the one-on-one match with Goldberg MUST have happened.

[Boxer 0]

What if after the controversy, the WWE still decides to put Mohammed Hassan over Batista at Summerslam 2005 for the World Heavyweight Championship.

 

What does Hassan do as the World Champion?

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

He stays on top as ratings lower just a little bit, and then throws a tantrum with the wrong person backstage (I'm thinking 'Taker) and gets jobbed out until he's off TV by the Rumble.

 

What if...

Raven was pushed to the WCW World title in late '98/early '99 like he probably should have been? Do DDP's reigns as champion still feel forced when he's feuding with Raven in brutal brawls like they did for the first half of '98 rather than beating superior talent like Sting or Benoit?

[Diamonddust 0]

What if after the controversy, the WWE still decides to put Mohammed Hassan over Batista at Summerslam 2005 for the World Heavyweight Championship.

 

What does Hassan do as the World Champion?

 

Probably a reign very similar to Sgt. Slaughter's during the Gulf War.

[Timmy8271 0]

What if...

Raven was pushed to the WCW World title in late '98/early '99 like he probably should have been? Do DDP's reigns as champion still feel forced when he's feuding with Raven in brutal brawls like they did for the first half of '98 rather than beating superior talent like Sting or Benoit?

 

DDP always felt forced no matter what he was doing. He hit his peak in late 97/early 98 and went downhill from there.

[Guest Mos_Def]

A decidedly less dramatic question...

 

What if Shane Douglas decides to gut out his WWF run, rather than abort mission in early-96 because of his Kliq run-ins. The WWF scene cleared immensely once Hall and Nash jumped. Does Shane become a main-eventer at the forefront of the WWF revival? Especially considering the WWF fascination with ECW, its possible that a credible looking, blond wrestler could have found a new lease on life in the Attitude era. Or does he remain the bitter, also-ran who would eventually tuck tail back to Philly?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

No. Not unless he's the Franchise, and I think even then, a lot of his lack of success in the big two was in his head. (Mick Foley said something along those lines in his first book).

 

The Dean was doomed to flop. The Kliq merely kicked him while he was down.