Wrestling News and Forum- eWrestlingNews.com - Blogs - Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?11532-Michael-Burnside Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Sun, 19 May 2013 08:44:44 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg Wrestling News and Forum- eWrestlingNews.com - Blogs - Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?11532-Michael-Burnside What if Sting joined the WWF/WWE http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45360-What-if-Sting-joined-the-WWF-WWE Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:05:22 GMT *Alternative Universe XII* Hard to believe when you think about it. Sting, a big name in American wrestling but has NEVER stepped foot in a... Alternative Universe XII

Hard to believe when you think about it. Sting, a big name in American wrestling but has NEVER stepped foot in a WWF ring. Even when the WWF acquired all of WCW assets in the takeover and the possibility was there, Sting never joined up. The reason he stated was that he had seen the way the WCW were treated during the ‘Invasion’ story (notably Rock’s “Who the hell are you?” comment to Booker T) that made him realise it wasn’t worth putting himself through it.

There’s five eras of the WWF/WWE that I’m going to analyse dropping Sting in. They are the Hulkamania era, New generation era, The Monday Night Wars era, Post War era and now.

Hulkamania (Rock N Wrestling)
Hogan has recently claimed in an interview how he was very keen round the time after Wrestlemania III for Sting to come over to the WWF. Hogan allegedly would turn heel and Sting would be the new super face. Of course, Hogan has a reputation for stretching the truth and even as far as talking nonsense in interviews. It’s fair to say that this is possibly one of those times. At that time Hulkamania still had plenty in the tank and Hogan had many years before the crowd would start to get bored of him. It’s very unlikely that he would be prepared to give that all up and hand it over to some unknown. (Just look how willing Hogan was to work with Bret Hart back in 1993).
So if Sting came to the WWF circa 1990, he would have a slight problem cracking into the upper tier which would be ruled by Hogan and his friends. Sting would have a friend himself climbing up the ladder in the Ultimate Warrior. Sting and Warrior were a tag team known as The Blade Runners back in the CWA and UWF. It would be unlikely though that the team would be resurrected though as the Warrior would be making big waves in the WWF as a singles star and secondly the WWF at this time was very reluctant to acknowledge other organisations.
Sting would have slotted quite well in the spot that Kerry Von Eric (The Texas Tornado) had. Von Eric had a feud with Intercontential Champion Mr Perfect and defeated him at Summerslam 1990 for the title. He lost the title back to Perfect at the end of the year, but if Sting was in that place, then perhaps he would have held it slightly longer than Von Eric did; either losing it back to Perfect at Wrestlemania 7 or holding it for a full year and dropping it to Bret Hart at Summerslam 91.
What would be very interesting is when Ric Flair would arrive in WWF later on in 1991. Would the WWF be prepared to re-ignite a feud between two wrestlers from another organisation? Normally no, but Sting and Flair would be big news so perhaps Vince would give the green light.
Originally, storyline-wise Randy Savage was reinstated to battle with Jake the snake. He then feuded with Flair which ended with Savage beating Flair for the WWF title. With Sting around, Savage could still get reinstated and feud with Jake Roberts, but instead of Randy going on to face Flair at Wrestlemania 8, it would be Sting who would challenge for the WWF title (and win since Hogan is away making movies).
Sting’s first WWF title run would play out in place of Savage’s second WWF title run including the match at Summerslam 1992 in London against the Ultimate Warrior. This raises the question whether the WWF would finally acknowledge their past together as a tag team in the build up…
Anyway, we’re getting out of the Hulkamania era and entering a different era…

The New Generation
After the days of Hogan, Andre and Warrior it was guys like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels to carry the torch. The question is how would Sting fit in with the Kilq if he joined during this time? He may be friendly with Kevin Nash who was also from WCW so perhaps he would even be a member or at the very least, on good terms with them. We would see a range of (hopefully) quality matches of Sting vs Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, 1 2 3 Kid and Diesel, some of which may have ladders involved. Several Intercontential title reigns would be pretty much guaranteed and he would definitely be in the running for the heavyweight title shots. Possibly Diesels year long reign as WWF champion would be cut down a bit shorter to make room for a Sting WWF title reign during that time frame.

The Monday Night Wars

WCW would never want to lose one of their top stars during a time when they were in a direct battle with the WWF, so it is hard to image a situation were Sting would want to take a pay cut and a heavier work schedule to jump ship to the McMahons. However he may want to work for the WWF to complete his wrestling résumé, maybe to get away from the WCW backstage politics or maybe a chance to work with different people.
Without a doubt, Sting would initially be pushed to the very top of the card and injected amongst whatever the hottest angle going was (the same way WCW’s Giant debuted during the Austin/McMahon cage match).
The question is, how long would he be able to stay high on the card before dropping down. Vince would see having Sting as a blow to WCW as it would deny them having one of their top stars on the rooster. Also considering how cutthroat the WWF/WCW rivalry became during this era was, Vince may not want to be seen having a WCW wrestler above his ‘home grown’ talent like Austin, the Rock and DX (who were shifting their own merchandise like nobodies business). Sting would after his main event entrance would be dropped to the IC title level, feuding with Ken Shamrock and Val Venis.

Invasion/Post Monday War

Now this is the period that Sting genuinely had a realistic chance of joining. However, as mentioned at the start of this piece, it was the treatment of the WCW brand that had put him off.
He’s probably right if you see how buried into the ground WCW, or the Alliance as they later became renamed. Granted, Sting would have been a much bigger WCW name than Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page, so perhaps he may have been treated slightly better. Also there’s a chance if he lead team WCW then there wouldn’t have been the need for Austin (and several other WWFers) to switch sides. The fans also could have taken to team WCW more if Sting was leader and thus the dynamic of WWF = face, WCW= heel would be changed to both sides being tweeners.
In the end WCW would still have to lose but it would probably come down to Rock or Austin vs Sting in the final climax (as opposed to Rock vs Austin which happened).


Then that takes us up to the current day. Could, would and should Sting join with the WWE? If he did, he would probably work on a part time schedule similar to that of the Undertaker as opposed to the full 300+ days a year. Sting is a man in his 50s who is probably quite used to the schedule he does in TNA. He probably would have a limited number of RAW and PPV appearances.
As for who he feuds with? Well, it would all be up against the top level talent so we won’t be seeing him going toe to toe with a NXT recruit. He would be a face as that is what people always know him as (despite a forgettable heel run in WCW later days) so he could go up against a heel like CM Punk first of all, move onto guys like Mark Henry or Big Show and then onto Undertaker for a Wrestlemania match. He would lose the Wrestlemania Taker match (cause lets face it, that streaks never going to break) but maybe there might be enough respect that he would be booked to lose with dignity. Maybeby count out after a heel interferes?
He could also take part in tag matches with John Cena against a team of heels (The Shield?) and even team together at Survivor Series. If he ever wanted to have his final ever match, I’m sure he could have his pick on who that would be.

In conclusion:
There’s something slightly satisfying knowing that despite Vince McMahon having a huge grasp (almost monopoly) on American pro wrestling, that there is one guy who became a big name legend and never wrestled for his fed. Like nobody said ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ in Star Trek, Led Zeppelin never released a UK single during their career and Sting never worked for Vince McMahon.

Just want to add a thank you to the support for the ‘Alternative Universe’ blogs. I enjoy writing them and I hope people enjoy reading them (or at least tolerate it). I was off for a few months as I was busy finishing off my Sci fi Novel (my 3rd one), ‘The Martican Journal.’ With a bit of luck it will out in the next month or two.

Also if anyone wants to make any recommendations for future AU blogs then go ahead. I’ve a few more ideas in the tank but always up for something new.
Michael

]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45360-What-if-Sting-joined-the-WWF-WWE The Men who were never world champion http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45333-The-Men-who-were-never-world-champion Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:05:16 GMT * Alternative Universe 11 * It’s a strange thing when you list the titles and championships won by a wrestler. Strange in the way that the...
Alternative Universe 11

It’s a strange thing when you list the titles and championships won by a wrestler. Strange in the way that the reason they won them was not because they necessary were stronger, faster or better than their predecessor, but rather that somebody scripted it for them to win.

Maybe a better comparison to being world champion is like winning an Academy Award. While somebody decided to make you a winner/champion/holder of the gold, it’s because they think you’re doing something right. Also, even being an Academy nominee is still an honour as well. Of course, you’ll not be remembered as well as the winners but you’re still up there.
So, after that (possibly bizarre) comparison, which wrestlers are the nominees who could, would and should have been heavy weight WWF champions…?

The men who were never world champions?*


(*In WWF/WWE only and for the sake of argument we’ll take both the WWF Heavyweight and the World as equal, and we’ll not count the ECW title)


Rowdy Roddy Piper.

The fearless Scotsman with a blatant Canadian accent. Piper was one of Hogan’s earliest rivals during the start of the Hulkamania craze and was even the big bad guy in Hulk’s Saturday morning cartoon. The very first Wrestlemania in the main event was Piper along with Paul Orndorff (another non WWF champ who could of..) against Hogan and Mr T (with pop sensation Cyndi Lauper involved as well).
Piper had excellent skills on the mic; his wrestling show ‘Piper’s Pit’ was proof of that. But a guy like Piper, people can only boo for so long until they begin to cheer and that’s what happened. Piper would have his ‘retirement’ match at Wrestlemania III against Adrian Adonis but would return after making a few movies. Although Piper would eventually hold the Intercontential title a few years later, and aside from a short feud against Ric Flair, he never really got near the top title in WWF again.
If the WWF back then had the amount of PPVs and the kind of television it does now, then without a doubt Piper would have had a short reign or two, before losing the title back to the Hulkster.


Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase
Now this is a man who did hold the title. Well kinda. For a few days at least. An interesting story were evil millionaire Dibiase attempted to buy the WWF title. Which he did after Andre ‘pinned’ Hogan for the three count. After winning the title, Andre handed it over to Diabise. It was several days before WWF president Jack Tunny announced that Dibiase’s reign was invalid and the title was declared vacant (Andre’s short 5 minute reign was still recognised). However in the days of Dibiase holding the title, he did appeared on a few shows, announced as the WWF champion in tag matches with Andre against Hogan and Bam Bam Bigelow. Footage of WWF champion Ted Dibiase is out there on dailymotion and youtube if you search hard enough.
Nowadays, it’s not overly unusual in storylines for titles to be handed to people. Jeff Jarrett gave the European title to Mark Henry, Bulldog gave the hardcore title to Al Snow and Randy Orton was given his first WWF championship regin (losing it minutes later to HHH but getting it back at the end of the night). But back in the 80s, they seemed a lot more intent on trying to keep it as much like a legit sport as possible. Almost a shame that whenever Dibiase was inducted into the Hall of Fame, they didn’t decide to amend the record books and recognise his reign.


Lex Luger
When you look back at the start of Luger’s WWF run and the amazing push he got, its hard to believe that he never got to hold the WWF title (or any belt at all). Initially coming in as the Naracisst, he would make a face turn for the summer and pushed into the main event as the next Hulk Hogan style all American hero. (Just watch this pre-summerslam 93 video package
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKFyI7pqqLg ) He headlined Summerslam 93 where he was victorious against mega heel champ Yokozuna, (by countout that is), was sole survivor in the main event at Survivor Series and won the Royal Rumble 94 (with Bret Hart). He did fight Yokozuna at Wrestlemania X but it was Bret Hart who at the end of the night defeated Yoko for the title. After that, Luger never came close again.
A famous urban myth that has been confirmed as crap is that Luger was supposed to win the title at the start of the night at Wrestlemania X but lose it to Bret at the very end. The reason that they changed it was because Luger got drunk the night before at a bar and blabbed to a reporter about the plan. All denied now by everyone involved.
If they had given the title to Luger at Summerslam it would have cut down Yokozuna long reign as a heel champ. The WWF hadn’t had a heel champion go with the title for so long since the days of Superstar Billy Graham back in 77/78. Also it may have seemed that Luger’s American hero may have been a bit too much like Hulkamania lite.
Even if they did give him a one hour reign at Wrestlemania it would have denied Bret Hart some real redemption of defeating Yokozuna at the end of the night (the previous Wrestlemania, Bret lost the title by dastardtly means to Yoko). Bret was over with the fans more than Lex was as the Rumble 94 experiment proved (more fans cheered when Bret was announced winner than when Luger was).


British Bulldog
A former Tag team champ, European champ, Hardcore champ and Intercontential champ as well as winning many battle royals. I recently wrote a blog about Davy, more specifically about his absence and what could have been if he hadn’t left in 1992 ( http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45177-What-if-the-Warrior-and-Bulldog-didn’t-leave-the-WWF-in-1992 )
Possibly what could have been holding him back as a world champ in his prime is perhaps the powers that be weren’t sure on having a non-North American as a face champion. A heel turn may have improved his chances a bit, possibly giving him a go as a transitional champ, much like Bob Backlunds second reign were he beat Bret Hart but lost days later to Diesel…
Or maybe there was always someone just ahead of him on the list for champion…

Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Jake never held any title in WWF, WCW or even ECW let alone a heavyweight or world title. Although to be fair, Jake is one of the very few wrestlers who doesn’t need a belt to make a story interesting. All of Jake’s major feud’s (Savage, Warrior, Undertaker, Rick Rude, Andre) have never been for a title of any description and it’s certainly a credit to Jake’s psychology and ability as a story teller in the ring. Although having said that, it would have been nice if he could have been awarded a small transitional reign of maybe an IC or US title as some sort of recognition.


There are many other guys I could list who could have been a top tier champ. Ricky Steamboat, Mr Perfect, Earthquake and Scott Hall are just a few. But possibly the main reason all these guys never got the top title is just the time they were wrestling. With the exception of Hall, when these guys were wrestling in their prime, it was a very much different time. The WWF championship didn't change that often. It remained firmly round the waist of the top face (Hogan usually) and occasionally dropped to a top heel before making it back to the top face (or the 2nd top face).
Christian, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Miz and Rey Mysterio are all former world/heavyweight champions but if these men were all wrestling during the Rock n Wrestling era and performing at the same level they do now, then they would never have been champions. They would possibly have been holders or at the very least challangers for the Intercontential championship. Likewise, if Piper, Diabiase and others were debuting during the Attitude and post-Attitude dual brand era then they would no doubt have many multiple title reigns.
That’s not to take anything away from the former champions of today. At the end of the day, in a predetermined sport, its not the number, length or combined length of title reigns that make a wrestler a better performer than another; it's their ability to entertain and provoke a response and emotion from the fans. Which they do, whether they are the 2 time Intercontential Champion Mr Perfect or the 2 time World champ, 2 time ECW champion, 4 time Intercontential Champion, 9 time tag champion, Former European, Hardcore and Lightweight champion Christian.
]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45333-The-Men-who-were-never-world-champion Alternative Universe 10 - The InVasion http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45203-Alternative-Universe-10-The-InVasion Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:33:32 GMT It looked like one of the biggest events in american wrestling history. In 2001 Vince McMahon’s WWF had bought out long time rival WCW. It was an... It looked like one of the biggest events in american wrestling history. In 2001 Vince McMahon’s WWF had bought out long time rival WCW. It was an exciting time as fans began to speculate over dream matches that were now a possibility. But after the dust settled and everyone looked back, the WWF, WCW and ECW battle came across as a bit disappointing. While some people hated it, some may have enjoyed it mostly everyone can agree, it could have been so much better.

So what went wrong? What could they done differently to have improved the InVasion?

First off, The McMahons needed to open the check book a lot more than they did. One of the first things a lot of people will bring up about the Invasion is the lack of the big WCW names that appeared during it. They had Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page who were established WCWers, but there was no NWO, Goldberg, Flair or Steiner. A lot of those guys were prepared to sit at home and allow their Time Warner/AOL contracts to play out, essentially getting paid to do nothing. The WWF should have realised the old saying ‘you gotta spend money to make money,’ and paid several of those guys what it took to get them onboard for the invasion story. They had the money so it shouldn’t have been a problem.

So which ones should they have picked up? The first person they should have got would have to be Eric Bischoff. Not a wrestler but he was the man who was seen both in kayfabe and real life (to a certain extent) as WCW’s Vince McMahon. Bischoff should have been the leader and the voice from the WCW side, as opposed to using Shane McMahon. If Shane must be used, then let him stand either along side Bischoff or slightly behind but under no circumstances should he be seen as above Bischoff (I’ll discuss this further down).

The next person (who strangly appeared on WWF as soon as the Invasion storyline concluded) would have to be Ric Flair. Although Flair did have a stint in the WWF from late 1991 to very early 1993 (picking up one Rumble and 2 WWF title wins) he was seen very much as the WCW guy. In fact along with Sting, there probably isn’t another wrestler more associated with the WCW name.

Once we have Bischoff and Flair aboard, the invading group already very much looks like WCW as opposed to a group of wrestlers who used to be in WCW and now working for the WWF. This can be topped up by hiring Scott and Rick Steiner, who like Flair had spent time in WWF but were more associated with being WCW wrestlers.

As well as trying to sign up guys who were in WCW at the time of the take over, they could try and acquire ex WCW wrestlers. For example, Big Van Vader could have been picked up. Even though he wrestled in WWF as Vader, he had the most success in WCW.

(Of course, this all depends on people willing to accept buy outs as well as being prepared to work with people who they didn’t get on with in WCW. Flair and Biscoff didn't get on at all and Scott Steiner rubbed a few people the wrong way, but money can help people forget).

Then of course there’s the big name of Goldberg who was the face of WCW through the Monday Night Wars in the late 90s. Goldberg would be best used if he was introduced not initially at the start of the story but maybe during the middle. This would prevent a case of ‘shooting your load all in one go’ and keep the story alive and interesting with a whole ‘anything can happen’ vibe. Can you imagine during the story, just as the WWF are seen to get an advantage over WCW, then boom, Bischoff announces “Goldberg is here”, who then spears and jackhammers a top WWF star.

The NWO I actually would hold off and use after the invasion story has played out. Hogan, Nash and Hall returning as the NWO would be a big acquisition and possibly with the excitement of the Invasion going on, may not be as epic as it should. Also Hogan although having been in WCW for many years, would still be seen as a WWF man.

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Secondly, we needed to make it more about WCW vs WWF and less about the McMahon family feud which it turned out to be. If you look at the poster for Invasion PPV you’ll see its half of Shane McMahon’s face on one side and Vince McMahon’s on the other. If you really want to sell this as a true invasion, then Shane’s face would be better replaced by somebody from WCW i.e. Eric Bischoff.

Granted, having Shane purchasing WCW and Stephanie purchasing ECW might be a quick and easy explanation on how these rivals are able to just turn up on a WWF show. However, nobody wants to see another McMahon family feud again and really Shane and Stephanie need to stand back and allow Eric Bishoff and Paul Heyman to take centre stage to represent their side.

As for ECW, they should still appear as they did but more of a separate entity who would occasionally work along side with WCW but still a little untrusting (perhaps a Megatron/Starscream from Transformers relationship). They would be the wildcard faction led by the loud Paul Heyman (and made up with RVD, Rhyno, Raven, Justin Credible, Taz, Tommy Dreamer and the Dudly Boyz) who would have the audience guessing which way would they go.

Then we come to the subject of wrestlers jumping from one side to the other. Looking at it, a lot of them never made sense. There were quite a few WWFs wrestlers who had never stepped foot in WCW that were on the ‘Alliance’ side. In fairness this could be because orginaly the Alliance side was quite weak and probably needed the WWF wrestlers to make it more credible (which sort of defeats the idea of a true WCW vs WWF invasion). However, if the big names are acquired at the start (as suggested further up in this blog) then these deflections wouldn’t be as necessary. A few would happen to shake things up a little and keep people guessing but it would have to be wrestlers who were in WCW. For example Faarooq could make the jump, and go under his real name Ron Simmons (as that’s what he used in WCW). William Regal would go under the name Lord Stephen Regal and if they still wanted Austin to turn, he would be introduced as ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin.

And probably the most important thing Vince should have remembered throughout the whole storyline is to KEEP YOUR FUCKING EGO IN CHECK!

Okay, we all know at the very end WWF would have to win but the problem with the Invasion was that the WCW wrestlers were made to look like bitches. It was only when WWF wrestlers like Austin and Kurt Angle joined that it was seen as a threat. Obviously Vince wanted people to know that WCW was never as good as his fed and really diluted the WCW element in the invasion. Just look at the Allainces team in the closing battle in the war. Stone Cold Steve Austin (The WWF’s biggest superstar bar Hogan), Kurt Angle (never stepped in a WCW ring), Booker T (a WCW guy), Rob Van Dam (ECW), and Shane McMahon (part of the WWF family dynasty).
But I guess Vince never forgot the battering he took from WCW and just wanted to grind them down. A shame really because we were looking at something much bigger and epic.

Many people on the fantastic world of the internet have posted their own ideas on how the Invasion should have been booked. Each one different from the other and it just shows how much of a wasted opportunity. So much possibilites.

As for some of the things that I would have done in the invasion? Well....

First of, within the WCW group I would revive the four horsemen. The four horsemen were a very predominate stable in WCW that lasted a long time before the NWO came into the scene and became the ultimate stable.

Ric Flair would been seen as the focus and while Arn Anderson was retired and unable to compete due to a back injury, he would be still part of the team in a non wrestling, enforcer type role.

As for the other two spots, one of them could be filled by a deflecting Dean Malenko who was a member of the final line up in WCW. The last one could be taken by Lex Luger (if they can sign him) or perhaps somebody new. Maybe they could have Ric’s son, David or maybe Big Van Vader could go well in the team as the muscle man. Sid Vicious would be a top choice but unfortunately at this time he was out of action because of his very very nasty leg injury.

I'd still have Austin temporaly join WCW but start referring to himself as 'Stunning' Steve Austin. Vince McMahon would be raging, going out of his mind trying to convince Austin to return to the WWF. Then on a RAW its just him and Austin in the ring. Austin at first refuses to listen to Vince but then Vince argues that even though he's treated Austin like crap, Austin has kicked his ass more times than he can count. Which is more than he's ever done to Bischoff who fired him over the phone in WCW. And Austin has done nothing to Bishoff! Nothing! Austin let him get away with it.

"What are you going to do about it, Austin" sneers Vince.
Austin replies with nailing Vince with a stunner, picks up the mic and says
"That!"
*crowd goes nuts*
"If you want to see me stomp that son of bitch. Bischoff give me a hell yeah"
*Crowd gives a hell yeah*
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Bischoff appears at the ramp with a mic and laughs. He knew that Austin would stab him in the back. He can't help it, its in his rattlesnake nature. Austin leaves the ring and comes up the ramp towards Bischoff but before he gets near him, Goldberg appears from nowhere and spears Austin. He lays a beat down while Bischoff laughs. This would lead to a tag match on the next RAW with Austin and McMahon against Goldberg and Bischoff but the match ends in a no contest when there's a million run ins. WCW has the upper hand until...
"Do you Smell....What the Rock is cooking!!????"
The Rock is back (from making movies)!!!

Lets flash forward to the legendary 2001 Survivor Series which is the final battle of WWF against WCW, winner takes all. A 5 on 5 elimnations tag match. On the WWF team (with Vince in their cornor) we have Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Undertaker and Kane. And on the WCW side (with Eric Bischoff in their cornor) we have Goldberg, Ric Flair, Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page and lets say Scott Steiner. The match comes down to two final men, The Rock and Ric Flair (after Austin and Goldberg have been elimanted by a double countout). And of course the Rock wins. Vince celebrates in the ring like a demented hyperactive child, but as the show closes, the camera zooms in on Bischoff and a slight smile appears on his face and he mouths the words 'it ain't over'.

The next night on RAW we learn that the reason Shane and Stephanie got the money to purchase WCW and ECW was because they sold their stake in WWF to someone. In the orginal time line this is how Ric Flair made his appearance, but here it will be Bischoff and Flair. And so things continue as they were with the brand spilt. Although maybe as opposed to a RAW brand and Smackdown! brand the audiance would be convinced that a WWF brand and WCW brand would work (which is what the orginal plan was at the very start).

Lets hope someday in the future another company grows to threaten the WWE, and when one takes over the other, then an Invasion story is done properly. ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45203-Alternative-Universe-10-The-InVasion What if the Warrior and Bulldog didn’t leave the WWF in 1992? http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45177-What-if-the-Warrior-and-Bulldog-didn’t-leave-the-WWF-in-1992 Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:34:56 GMT *Alternative Universe 9 * Summerslam 1992, Wembly arena in London England. Macho Man Randy Savage lost (via countout) to the Ultimate Warrior in... Alternative Universe 9

Summerslam 1992, Wembly arena in London England. Macho Man Randy Savage lost (via countout) to the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF championship match. Later in the main event, the British Bulldog defeated Bret Hart for the Intercontential championship in front of a home crowd of 80, 000.

This probably would rank as one of the Bulldogs greatest wrestling moments. However, when the next PPV rolls round (Survivor Series 92) both men are gone. One of the stories going round was that they were caught with some naughty medicine that made them bigger, and they were shown the door.

But how would the WWF play out if they didn’t leave?

Well first off, lets deal with the next PPV Survivor Series. The Bulldog was scheduled to defend the IC title against the Mountie. It would be fair to say that the Bulldog would have very likely defended successfully. However, that does leave us with the Yokozuna/Virgil match that was added to the card whenever the Bulldog/Mountie match never happened. This is Yokozuna’s debut and where he makes his big first impression impact, so we can’t really leave him off the card due to his dominance in 1993.
We’ll add Yokozuna to the team of the Headshrinkers and Virgil to the team of High Energy, changing the opening match from a tag match to a 6 man tag match.
As for the Warrior, he was due to tag with Randy Savage against Ric Flair and the debuting, Scott ‘Razor Ramon’ Hall. What ended up happening was Mr Perfect took the Warriors spot and the team of Savage and Perfect won by a DQ. If Warrior stayed then they would have won regardless, either by a similar DQ finish or with Flair taking the pin from Savage (Wouldn’t be a good start for Razor Ramon getting pinned on his PPV debut).

Next up is the Royal Rumble. According to the rumours from over the years, the main event was supposed to be Bret Hart defending the WWF title against the Warrior in a face vs face match. This would be a good chance to cement Bret as a serious main eventer by getting a clean pinfall victory over the Warrior. Something similar to what Hogan did to the Warrior just three years earlier
This leaves Razor Ramon out but with the British Bulldog as the Intercontential Champion then this would make a good pairing. It could potentially be a good time to crown Razor Ramon his first title. However, it may be better to hold off that victory a little longer and have Bulldog successfully defend his title a second time on PPV.

Marty Janetty and Shawn Michaels originally fought for the IC title at the Rumble but this time the match will take place as a normal one on one. Shawn will take the victory as before and will prepare in the following weeks for his Wrestlemania match against the Bulldog for the IC title.

After the Rumble, this is where things could get complicated regarding the Warrior. After suffering a PPV loss to Bret, it would seem what would make sense is for to turn the Warrior heel (!) and fued with his once long time enemy, now partner, Randy Savage. Although they feuded at length in the past, it was Warrior who was the face while Savage was the heel. This would be the roles reversed.

The problem is, the Warrior was not very keen on turning heel. Rumour had it that there was plans for a turn at Summerslam 92 but Warrior turned it down.

Another issue to take into account is Hogan returning again to the WWF. Would this knock the Warrior’s nose out of joint? With a returning Hulkster, the WWF could push for Hogan/Warrior II (possibly at Wrestlemania 9) but after losing a PPV already, Warrior may feel a second straight loss would hit his ‘stock value’.

It might be fair to say, that the Warrior could just as easily walk from the WWF like he did in 1996. Or annoy McMahon so much that he would let him go once Hogan was safely on board.

Come Wrestlemania 9, Shawn will be victorious against the Bulldog and become the Intercontential for the first time, (helping cement his ‘Mr Wrestlemania’ moniker). The Bulldog’s impressive 6 month reign comes to an end. Where does his path continue?

The next PPV is the brand new King of the Ring tournament. Now that Bulldog is still with the WWF in this alterative reality, he will take the spot that Mr Perfect would have taken. (Since the Warrior in this reality wouldn’t have left prior to Survior Series, there would be no need for Mr Perfect to come back to the ring as a face. – Possibly Perfect could act as Razor’s manager…?)

This would mean that the semi-final match of the tournament would be Bret Hart vs The British Bulldog – a rematch from Summerslam 92. Of course Bret will win bringing the score between them 1 all. No doubt this will tease us for a third match further down the line...

Now we're leading into the summer of 93 with the evil forgeiner champion Yokozuna. Although Davy has the muscular build of Hogan and wore red, white and blue, the lack of an american accent would mean that Lex Lurger would still have been the guy to replace Hulkamania.

So what does Davey do during the summer? Well, Bret and the Hart family were fueding with Jerry Lawler so it would seem right that he would be involved in that as well. Prehpas initially with the Harts, but it may seem a bit too loaded on the side of the Hart family. A heel turn were he allies himself with Jerry Lawler. He could use the reason of jealous of Bret for turning (he beat Bret for the IC title at summerslam but Bret got the WWF title a few months later, bret gets to headline wrestlemania, become king of the ring etc).

When Surivor Series 93 rolls round, the Bulldog could either be part of Jerry Lawler's (well, shawn michaels in the end) team against the Hart family or he could be part of the 'Forgein Fanatics' team in the main event against Lex Lurgers all american team.

With the Bulldog heel turn, it may put a hold on Owen's heel turn. It may be the Bulldog who defeats Bret in the opening match of Wrestlemania X and then, after watching Bret claim the WWF that night (another reason to resent his brother-in-law), continues the fued until Summerslam 94 where they have a cage match in the main event for the WWF title.

OF course, before we get to Summerslam, we have the 1994 King of the Ring which was orginally won by Owen and had the return of Jim Neidhart who turned heel and alliened himslef with Owen. Prehaps if the Bulldog was around, it would have been him who would have become King of the Ring? And maybe we would have seen a series of tag matches on the house show circuit with good guy brothers Bret and Owen against their nasty brother in laws, Neidhard and Smith...?
I'm going to cut it here because we're getting near the point where Davy Boy returned to the WWF from his spell in WCW.


In conclusion
Hard to put a conclusion to this one.The Warrior seems to be the sort of guy who doesn't seem to stick around to long in a place if things aren't going totally the way he wants. So maybe its safe to assume he wouldn't be there much past Survivor Series 92.
As for the Bulldog, he's one of those guys who gets mentioned when talk turns to 'guys who never held the top title but possibly could of...'. (Ted Diabise, Roddy Piper and Jake Roberts could probably be added to that list) He held the Euro, Tag, IC and hardcore and speaking from someone from the UK, it seems a shame that he never quite got to complete the set. I guess when he was at his prime, it was during a time when heavyweight title reigns weren't hot potatoed as much.

Thanks for reading. ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45177-What-if-the-Warrior-and-Bulldog-didn’t-leave-the-WWF-in-1992 What would the WWF do if Austin’s career ended at Summerslam 97? http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45175-What-would-the-WWF-do-if-Austin’s-career-ended-at-Summerslam-97 Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:23:24 GMT On the 23rd September 1992 ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin had a match with Masahiro Chono which ended kinda badly for Chono. A botched piledriver from... On the 23rd September 1992 ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin had a match with Masahiro Chono which ended kinda badly for Chono. A botched piledriver from Austin nearly put Chono on the shelf permanently.
Ironically 5 years later the same thing happened again with Austin except this time it was him receiving the botched piledriver from Owen Hart. Despite feeling numb for a short period of time, Austin was able to finish the match but the damage was serious. Although it didn’t stop Austin’s career completely, it definitely affected it. He changed his style to more of a brawling style and eventually retired several years earlier than he would have, had the accident not happened.
He was lucky. All you have to do is look at Droz, who as a result from a badly executed move, was confined to a wheelchair. But what if Austin hadn’t recovered from Summerslam? What if that match with Owen was his last match?

Alternative Universe 7
What would the WWF do if Austin’s career ended at Summerslam 97?

It must have been a scary moment for Austin, lying flat in the ring and unable to move. Although the school boy pinfall victory at the end looked weak, it is totally understandable. It did help to add to the Stone Cold never say die attitude despite the seriousness. Just watch the 1997 Survivor Series video promoting the rematch between Hart and Austin where it recaps the accident (“It’s not how many times you get knocked down that count……. It’s how many times, you get back up”)
Austin would go on a few months later to win the 1998 Royal Rumble and defeat Shawn Michaels for the WWF title at Wrestlemania. Then he would have the legendary McMahon feud which basically made the WWF a shit load of money and help them to finally beat WCW in the ratings as well as creating some of the most memorable moments and matches from the Attitude era.
So would it be fair to say that without Austin, the WWF would fail to catch in viewers, lose more ratings to WCW and eventually fold? It’s possible. But then again, its possible that the McMahon’s and the WWF might actually just have pulled through despite the dire financial difficulties. There’s no doubt that without Austin, then the WWF wouldn’t have made as much money as they did during the Attitude era. Also the massive 84 week consecutive beating Raw took from Nitro would have been a lot longer. Much much longer.
If you trace the comparasion rating graph
(located here from wikipedia http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia
/commons/c/c6/Monday_night_wars_ratings.gif ),it does seem that the permanent fall of WCW began in the first half of 1999. The question is, could the WWF survive until then and how?

The incident with Austin happened at Summerslam 97 so we’re looking at a good 18 months until then. Who would be pushed in Austin’s place? The Montreal Screw job which ultimately resulted in Bret Hart, Bulldog and Neidhart leaving happened a few months later so it wouldn’t be Bret Hart. Shawn Michaels also wrestled his last match for 4 years at the following Wrestlemania so we could rule him out carrying the torch. Also both men had their run in the early Nineties so it would be time for something new.

The Undertaker held the WWF title during the first half of 1997 then began his first feud with Kane around the end of the year, which cumulated in a match at the 98 Wrestlemania. It would be entirely possible that Taker could reach Wrestlemania as champ and Kane could win the rumble. Remember Yokozuna debuted and won the rumble in the same time frame as Kane appeared so it wouldn’t be totally unprecedented that a new character would be pushed as quick.
As for the Mr McMahon character, without Austin it wouldn’t work or possibly been inspired. Or on the other hand, Vince could have seen in WCW how Eric Bishoff’s evil authority character was working and stole the idea. The protagonist to replace Austin would possibly be the new line up of Degeneration X (out with Shawn Michaels and Rick Rude and in with the younger and ‘hipper’ X Pac and New Age Outlaws). A DX/Corporation feud could quite easily be played out for the most of 1998. Which would help to buy time for the Rock to get over with the fans, from a cocky heel that gets booed to the cocky face that the fans can’t help but cheer. His heel turn at the Survivor Series in 1998 would never take place and he would remain face and grow into the superstar that he has become. He would either pick up the title at the end of 1998 and defend it at wrestlemania, or more likely go down the hero route by winning the Rumble 99 and taking on (and beating) the top heel WWF champion. Possibly HHH during the DX/Corporation feud would betray his own team and become Vince’s corporate champion? Essentially we are bringing the Rock/HHH rivalry from 2000 forward by a year.
And lets not rule out Mick Foley. Mankind feuded with the Undertaker many times and gave us in 1998 (King of the Ring to be exact) a Hell in a Cell match that people still talk about today. In fact, when people mention KOTR 1998, it’s what people always think of. Not the Austin/Kane first blood match or that it was Ken Shamrock who won the tournament.
So with Undertaker, Kane, DX, Mick Foley, the Corporation and then later the Rock, it’s likely the main event scene of the WWF will still be entertaining and thriving. Providing that is, the fans take to them as they did originally when the attitude era had Austin building it up.

As mentioned earlier, one thing we can be sure is that the WWF would not be quite as rich without Austin. That we can safely say. The question is, would they be rich enough to buy the assets of WCW when it did as well as the video libraries of WCW and ECW? If they failed to do so then we wouldn’t have gotten the Invasion storyline (as perhaps disappointing as it was) and we wouldn’t have the comprehensive DVD documentaries which feature footage from both major organisations.
We may still have a rival promotion to WWE to this day if someone other than the McMahon’s bought WCW in 2001. Of course whether this newly owned WCW would be a strong rival or merely a TNA sized rival is anyone’s guess.

In conclusion –
A very hard one to predict how the WWF would survive without Austin. Probably a lot harder than I first thought when I began writing this blog. WCW had a great angle with the New World Order and it struck a powerful blow against the WWF programming. However it had many flaws with the way it was ran (over reliance on aging stars, bad booking, newer talent not getting pushed enough etc).
The WWF is a family run business that belonged to Vince’s father and he was going to fight a lot harder than somebody who was working for someone else. When people leave work in the evenings and at the weekends, they (hopefully) forget about work until they return. But not for McMahon, who would probably be thinking 25 hours a day, 8 days a week on how to keep his livelihood and legacy from going down the toilet. The attitude era was not all just the Austin/McMahon feud. There many other very over superstars up and down the card that the fans cared about. And maybe, that might have been enough to keep WWF afloat through the difficult times.
Maybe.

Next Time, Alternative Universe 9 – What if the Warrior and Bulldog didn’t leave in 1992? ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?45175-What-would-the-WWF-do-if-Austin’s-career-ended-at-Summerslam-97 What if there was a wrestling show in the afterlife? http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?44797-What-if-there-was-a-wrestling-show-in-the-afterlife Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:41:53 GMT *Alternative Universe 8* Over the years many of our childhood favourites and heroes have sadly passed away. Most of them tragically far, far too... Alternative Universe 8

Over the years many of our childhood favourites and heroes have sadly passed away. Most of them tragically far, far too young when they head for the squared circle in the sky.
As a tribute to the wrestlers that have left us, I’ve decided to try and book a fantasy card made up of those guys.

Slam in the Clouds


We’re at an unnamed arena, somewhere in another place, and the crowd is hyped. Fireworks and explosions go off and AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ is played full blast out the speakers.
At ringside we have our two commentators for the night, Gorilla Monson and Lord Alfred Hayes. They welcome us to a great evening. Lord Alfred says he’s especially looking forward to seeing his fellow country man, The British Bulldog in action tonight. Gorilla cuts him and says sorry, but Jack Tunney is coming down to the ring to make an announcement.
Jack takes the mic and thanks us all for turning up. He says we are going to open up this great show with a special 10 tonne Battle Royal with 10 of the biggest, baddest men that have ever wrestled. They’ve had the ring specially reinforced by the almighty himself to hold these mammoth men.
He hands the mic to WWWF ring announcer Jack E. Lee who announces the ten men


Match 1: 10 tonne Battle Royal
Andre the Giant, Earthquake, Big John Studd, Giant Gonzalez, Dino Bravo, Big Dick Dudley, Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Crush, Test.

A lot of heavies in this one including two guys from England, Big Daddy (the UK’s super face) and Giant Haystacks (The UK’s super heel). These two go straight for each other with Big Daddy hitting Giant Haystacks with his belly body check. Haystack is dazed allowing Big Daddy to grab Haystacks by the legs and lift him over the top rope. Haystacks is out. The crowd chant ‘Easy, Easy’ along with Big Daddy who mocks Haystacks lying on the outside. However he doesn’t see Crush sneak up behind him and eliminate him just as easily. He then turns and battles Test.
Andre and John Studd battle each other, neither forgetting their long time fued. Earthquake and Dino on the otherhand, being long time friends work together and after Giant Gonzalez throws out Big Dick Dudley, they double team the Argentine giant. After they bring him down to the ground they turn their attention to Crush and Test battling away. Together they eliminate both of them before turning round and throwing Gonzalez as well. Just at the same time, Andre manages to throw out Big John Studd but then he turns and sees he has 2 opponents left. Both of whom are working together. Andre fights bravely but soon he is over powered and lying on the mat. Earthquake begins his vertical earthquake splash as Bravo watches on in glee. However Andre rolls out of the way and ‘Quake lands square on his ass. Bravo is gobsmacked, looks at Andre and charges at him. A foolish mistake as Andre moves and Bravo’s momentum carries him over the top. Earthquake manages to get to his feet, still feeling the pain from the missed splash, but is met with a huge clothesline from Andre which sends him over the top.

Winner Andre the Giant

Match 2: Tag Team Championship
The British Bulldog & Owen Hart (C) V Yokozuna & Umaga

Real life cousins Yokozuna and Umaga come down to the ring first. Gorilla manages to get across that although Yokozuna is Japanese (in kayfabe that is), he is also part Samoan and is teaming up with his trusted family member. Awkward but Gorilla covers it all adequately.

Next comes down the team of Owen and Davey and Lord Alfred goes almost as mad as the crowd. Gorilla asks Alfred if he is going to be impartial.
Yoko and Umaga work as the heels and after a few minutes of Owen and Davey working over Umaga, he makes the tag to Yokozuna who dominates Owen and places him in the ‘face in peril’ role. Several times he makes the close tag but the heels cut him down. Each time Gorilla asks Alfred to sit down and to remember to be impartial.
Eventually Owen makes the tag to the Bulldog, the crowd goes nuts and Gorilla gets deafened by the cheer from Alfred. A fury of punches to Umaga, followed by a powerslam. He goes for the pin but Yoko breaks it up. Owen jumps in and drop kicks Yoko but he’s still standing. Bulldog hits him with a running shoulder charge but yet he’s still on his feet. He goes for a second but yet Yoko is still up on his feet. He goes for a third but Umaga has recovered and nails him with a samoan spike to the throat, knocking him out. Before Owen can react, Yoko grabs him and holds him for Umaga to deliver a second spike. However, Owen ducks and Yokozuna gets the spike! Shocked at hitting his own cousin, Umaga is unable to prepare for Owen, who school boy pins him for and gets the three count!
Gorilla mentions that he wasn’t sure if Owen was the legal man or not, but Lord Alfred doesn’t care too much as he is cheering as loud as the crowd.

Winners and still tag team champions
The British Bulldog & Owen Hart

Match 3 Hardcore Championship
Mike Awesome (C) V Big Boss Man V Bam Bam Bigelow w/Luna Vachone

On commentary, Gorilla tells us to expect a violent, no holds barred, falls count anywhere battle. Lord Alfred brings up that Awesome and Bigelow are both former ECW heavyweight champs with Awesome being a former WWF hardcore champ and Bigelow a WCW hardcore champ to boot. Gorilla also adds that The Boss Man is also a former multi time WWF hardcore champ and tag team champion.
The match starts and Boss man keeps a hold of his night stick and uses it to crack Awesome over the head. Bigelow jumps in, the night stick drops and both men end up outside the ring and then brawling through the crowd. The get back near the ring were Luna starts getting involved, Boss man slaps her and then handcuffs her to the ring. This enrages Bigelow who throws the Boss man into the ring post and then places him across the announce table. Gorilla and Lord Alfred stand well back as Bigelow returns to the ring and begins to climb the turnbuckle.
Everybody’s on their feet. They can’t believe Bigelow is going for the flying head butt from the top rope. But Awesome is up and before Bigelow can jump, he gets hit across the back with the nightstick which Awesome has retrieved. Bigelow falls to the outside as Awesome now begins the climb to the top rope. He’s going for the Awesome Splash! He jumps!




But the Boss Man rolls out of the way and Awesome crashes through the table.
“Holy Shit!”
“Holy Shit!”
“Holy Shit!”
Boss Man goes for the cover and gets the 1, 2, 3.

Winner and New Hardcore Champion
Big Boss Man

Boss Man climbs into the ring and holds the hardcore title aloft, mocking Luna who is still handcuffed to the ring. He doesn’t see Crash Holly running down the aisle with a STOP sign. He cracks the Boss Man across the back and rolls him over and goes for the cover.
1
2
3


Winner and New Hardcore Champion
Crash Holly

Crash takes the title from the Boss Man and legs it all the way to the back before anyone has any idea what has happened.

While the ring staff clear the wreckage from the ring, Jack Tunney appears at the top of the ramp. He says he hopes we’re enjoying the show so far. As a mid show treat, he’s called in a few guys to play a song or two before we start again with the action.
Cozy Powell comes behind the curtain and takes a seat behind the drum kit. He blasts out a quick drum solo before Jon Lord takes the keyboards. Cliff Burton is next on bass with Randy Rhoads on guitar. The band is almost ready to play, just waiting for their singer…

Ronnie James Dio!!!
They burst into Rainbow’s ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and then straight into Dio’s own ‘Stand up and Shout.’
They’re about to leave when the crowd chant ‘One more tune! One more tune!’ They then return to their instruments and play ‘We Rock’ and the crowd goes crazy!
Jack Tunney returns to the ramp and thanks the band. He then tells us the action is about to begin.


Match 4 Intercontential Championship
Mr Perfect (C) w/ the Coach V ‘Flyin’ Brian Pillman

Perfect along with the ‘Coach’ comes down to the ring, playing his arrogant heel persona. Pillman, is the face, in top condition (i.e. before his car accident in 96 wrecking his ankle). The two of them go at it for near 30 minutes, entertaining the crowd with every move, and close fall. Pillman hits Perfect with an array of drop kicks including one from the top rope with Perfect bouncing across the ring everytime. However, Pillman makes a foolish mistake. He takes his eyes of Perfect and turns his attention to the Coach, whose constant whistle blowing and cheap shots have annoyed him during the match. He drags his into the ring and hits his with a scoop powerslam. Unfortunatly when he turns around, he gets hit with the Perfect-plex and is pinned for 3.



Winner and still Intercontential Champion Mr Perfect


Match 5 World Heavyweight Title
‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage (C) w/Elizabeth V Eddie Guerreo

Eddie’s music hits and he comes out driving his Lowrider. Next we hear ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ playing over the speakers and out comes heavyweight champ Randy Savage with Elizabeth following behind. Eddie makes a few cheeky smiles and winks at Elizabeth which infuriates Savage. The match starts and Savage is quick with the offence against Eddie. During the match, when things seem to be going well for Savage, Eddie rolls out of the ring near Elizabeth. Savage charges but a quick movement from Eddie causes a slight collision with Miss Elizabeth. Randy instantly takes his attention of Eddie to check on her but this proves to be a big mistake. Eddie uses this opportunity to take advantage and attacks savage from behind. He throws him into the ring and starts to dominate the match.
Eventually Eddie hits his frog splash and goes for the cover.
1

2

Three… no wait. Eddie has gotten up just before the ref hit the three. Why? Miss Elizabeth has climbed on the apron and is making eyes for Eddie. Eddie has a big smile on his face as he strolls over towards Elizabeth. He sees Elizabeth is checking him out but what he doesn’t see is Savage is slowly getting back to his feet. Savage grabs Eddie by the arm and nails him with one hell of a short clothesline. Eddie hits the mat hard and Savage races for the corner.



He climbs to the top rope.



He raises his arms


He jumps.


He connects with the elbow drop

One



Two


Three!!!!!!!!!

Winner and still Heavyweight Champion ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage
The shows ends with Randy Savage standing in the middle of the ring, Elizabeth raised on Randy’s shoulder and the heavyweight title over hers. Eddie staggers to the back, not sure how he let it all slip through his fingers.





 ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?44797-What-if-there-was-a-wrestling-show-in-the-afterlife What if WWF 1984 was booked 21st Century style? http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?44063-What-if-WWF-1984-was-booked-21st-Century-style Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:51:25 GMT *Alternative Universe 6* If you look back at the old WWF title histories you will see that the reigns from the 60s, 70s and early 80s are longer... Alternative Universe 6
If you look back at the old WWF title histories you will see that the reigns from the 60s, 70s and early 80s are longer than the reigns of today. Bruno Sammartino first reign in the 60s was over 7 years and Bob Backlund’s first was from 78 to 83.
It was a different time.They didn’t have monthly PPVs or a weekly TV shows were constant big storylines was played out.So for this What If I’ve decided to pick a year in the WWF’s past and rebook it with 21st Century schedule and match types.I’ve chosen 1984 as that was the year when Hulk Hogan first captured the WWF title.
I’m not going to write out entire PPV cards and every single RAW for the full year as that may be slightly too mammoth a task but I will give a few matches for each PPV and what happens on the RAWS inbetween PPV.
ROYAL RUMBLE 84– Sunday 29th January
WWF Championship
Iron Shiek (c) V Hulk Hogan
On Boxing day the Sheik defeated WWF champion Bob Backlund when Backlund’s manager threw in the towel after being slapped in the camel clutch. Hulk Hogan is the new comer who challenges the Sheik for.Hogan powers out of the camel clutch and defeats the Sheik with a few punches and a leg drop. Hulkamania has begun.

Royal Rumble match
Bob Backlund, dispite losing the title on boxing day enters the rumble at lucky #27 wins the Rumble by elimating Paul Orndorff who drew #3. Backlund gets a standing ovation.

RAW
Mean Gene is standing in the ring and welcomes his guest, the NEW WWF champion, Hulk Hogan. The crowd goes mad when the Hulkster comes to the ring. He cuts a promo about the power of Hulkamania when the Sheik comes down.He says Hogan was lucky and wants a rematch. He throws salt in Hogans face and lays a beat down. Refs come down and separate the two. A match is made for next week. Hogan of course defeats him.
Bob Backlund is announced as a number 1 contender for Hogan’s title at wrestlemania.Bob tells Mean Gene that he’ll be honoured to face against Hogan and may the best man win.During the next Raws he has several matches with Paul Orndorff who wishes to be number one contender for Hogans title. Backlund defeats him via DQs and countouts.
NO WAY OUT– Sunday 19th February
Hulk Hogan & Bob Backlund vs Iron Sheik & Paul Orndorff
A tag team match where the 2 men who will face each other at wrestlemania, will tag together. The team initially works well together until Hulk gets taken down by a cheap shot from Orndorff as he goes to lay the leg drop on Sheik. The crowd chant Hogan’s name, inspiring him to Hulk up or make the tag to Backlund. Hulk eventually fights back laying both Sheik and Orndorff out. He then walks over to tag in Backlund but Backlund jumps off the apron and walks back down the isle. Why has Backlund abanded him? This distraction costs him as he get double teamed and spiked piledrivered. He falls out of the ring to the floor, knocked out and the ref counts to 10. Sheik and Orndorff celebrate in the ring. Backlund carries on walking to the back as Hogan receives another piledriver to the floor outside.

IC championship
Don Muraco (c) V Tito Santtana
Santanna defeats Muraco and begins his first reign as IC champ.

RAW
Mean Gene calls down Bob Backlund to explain why he deserted Hogan. Backlund explains how he was champion for 5 long years and was never beaten for the title. He never quit and so should still be champ. But Hogan walks round like the belt is his even though he never beat the champ.At Wrestlemania he will make things right and destroy Hogan and takes back what is his.
During the Raws leading to Wrestlemania, Backlund squashes jobbers by applying the double chickenwing submission and forcing them to tap out, while having a demented, evil look on his face. After each victory he looks into the camera and laughs. “Hogan, your next.”
On the last show before 'mania, Backlund in a match against Jimmy Snuka applies the chickenwing submission and refuses to release it.Hogan comes running down and makes the save. Bob runs though the crowd and looks back at Hogan who is standing in the ring glaring at Backlund.

WRESTLEMANIA Sunday 1st April
Hulk Hogan (c) V Bob Backlund
The match we’ve being all waiting to see. Former champ Bob Backlund against the current champion Hulk Hogan. Backlund fights like a demented madman and causes the Hulkster to bleed. He slaps on the chickenwing hold and laughs hysterically. It looks like curtains for the Hulkster until he powers out, punches Backlund and leg drops him for the 3 count.
Other matches on the card include Paul Orndorff going up against against IC champion Tito Santanna. It ends up in a double count out. Sergeant Slaughter defeats the Iron Sheik by pinfall.

RAW
Backlund is still not satisfied that Hogan is the better man and as far as he is concerned, his grudge against the Hulkster is not over.He demands a rematch at Backlash in an ‘I Quit’ match. He never said those words on boxing day and he will not say them ever. Hulkster accepts.
During a rematch between Tito Santanna and Orndorff, Backlund runs in and along with Orndorff lays a beat down on Santanna.Hulk runs down and makes the save. This leads to a series of tag matches with Hulk and Santanna teaming against Backlund and Orndorff.These usually end in no contests and double disqualifications especially when the Iron sheik and Slaughter get involved.
BACKLASH Sunday 29th April
IC ladder match
Tito Santanna (c) vs. Paul Orndorff
An intense ladder match between these two with many spots and close calls, but in the end,Tito retains.

Street Fight
Sergeant slaughter V Iron Sheik.
A bloody fight with both men bleeding. Chairs and tables are used but in the end, Slaughter slaps on the Camel clutch on the Sheik and brings it to an end.

WWF Championship I Quit match
Hulk Hogan (c) v Bob Backlund
Another brutal match with both men throwing everything at each other.Hogan is put through the announce table and Backlund takes the microphone and asks Hogan if he wants to quit.Hogan shouts “Never!!”, Hulks up, slams Backlund onto the mat and applies the Boston crab. Backlund screams “I quit!”

RAW
Its Mean Gene in the ring and he introduces his guest Bob Backlund.Bob gets on the mic and calls out Hulk Hogan as he has something to say.Hulk comes down the ring and cautiously enters, never taking his eyes off Backlund.Backlund says he wishes to apologise to Hogan.He let jealously get to him and he has let himself, the fans and all of the WWF down. He doesn’t know if Hogan will ever forgive him but he wants him to know that he’s a worthy champion. Bob puts his hand out for Hogan to shake when Big John Studd comes down to the ring. He looks at Hogan and takes the mic.Big John Studd tells Hogan that while it may have been easy to beat Backlund and force a broken, beaten man to scream ‘I quit; he cannot do the same to him. Studd declares himself unslammable and challenges Hogan to try to slam him. If he fails to slam him then he should give him a title shot at Judgement Day.
The crowd chant for Hogan, while Hogan looks around for approval. Studd says he will make no attempt to stop Hogan slamming him and stands still. Just as Hogan is about to go for a slam Backlund jumps Hogan and lays a beating.It was a trick all along.When Backlund’s finished, Studd slams Hogan and says ‘I’ll see you on Judgement Day.’
In the weeks leading up to Judgement Day, Studd randomly interferes in matches and slams both partipants, causing no contests.Hogan then will run down and the 2 would end up brawling through the crowd.
Also Greg Valentine defeats Tito Santana for the IC title on a televised show.
JUDGEMENT DAY Sunday 27th May
IC Championship Match
Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine (C) V Tito Santanna
Tito attempts to retake his IC title but unfortunately has to submit to Valentines figure four manoeuvre

WWF Championship Match
Hulk Hogan (C) v Big John Studd w/ Freddie Blassie
Many times Hogan goes for the slam but he can’t quite get Studd up.Blassie gets involved by hitting Hogan in the back with a chair when the ref isn’t looking. Hogan's down and Studd lays a beating.Hogan eventually Hulks up and goes for a slam. He gets Studd up but because of the damage to his back, he falls over. Blassie reaches to Hogans foot and holds it down, the ref doesn’t see and counts to 3. Big John Studd is the WWF Champion

RAW
John Studd comes out to the ring with the belt over his shoulder. Tonight he has a non title match against his old rival Andre the Giant. During the match, Blassie runs in and hits Andre across the back with the title causing a DQ. It doesn’t hurt Andre but it provides a distraction for Studd to beat Andre down. Hogan makes the save.
The next week Hogan and Andre team up in a match against John Studd and IC champion Greg Valentine. During the match, Hulk and Andre together supplex Studd causing the ring to break. Hogan covers and gets the 3 count.
The following week Studd announces that his lost the other week should be striked from the record books due to the ring being destroyed. He also issues a challenge to Hogan. He admits that he and Andre together were able to slam him, no man alone can do it. He will give Hogan the title shot at Night of champions but with a stipulation.Hogan can only pin Studd if he slams him. Hogan accepts.
NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS 24th June
WWF Championship
Big John Studd (c) V Hulk Hogan
As stipulated, Hogan needs to slam Studd before the ref will count the pin. After several unsuccessful attempts, Hogan manages to slam him with the crowd going mental. He finishes with the leg drop, ref counts to 3 and Hogan regains the title.

IC Championship
Greg Valentine (C) V Tito Santanna V Paul Orndorff V Sergeant Slaughter
A fatal fourway match where the first to score the pin wins. Lots of quick action with many near falls. In the end Valentine retains by sneakily pinning Slaughter.
In the other matches, the tag titles, woman’s title and woman’s tag titles are on the line. Andre takes on Bob Backlund in the only non title match. Andre pins Bob cleanly.

RAW
The next PPV is the Money in the Bank match. A briefcase with a guarnteed, anytime, anywhere title shot at the WWF title. Over the weeks, qualifying matches take place to see who will fill the eight spots.
Its announced that IC champion Greg Valentine will take on Hulk Hogan for the WWF championship. During an edition of Piper’s Pit featuring Hogan, Valentine jumps Hogan from behind and slaps the figure four on him, refusing to let go until the officals come down.
MONEY IN THE BANK 22nd July
WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan (c) V Gregg Valentine
Valentine’s IC title is safe as only Hogan’s WWF title is on the line. Hulkamania prevails and Valentine is defeated nice and clean with Hogan powering out of the figure four before laying down the leg drop.

MITB Ladder Match
Big John Studd V Andre the Giant V Rowdy Roddy Piper V Tito Santana V Superfly Jimmy Snuka V Paul Orndorff V Sergeant Slaughter
Lots of action and madness in this match with Snuka providing some crazy off the top of the ladder spots. But in the end, Roddy Piper reaches out at the end and takes the brief case.

RAW
Piper proudly displays his mitb briefcase the next night. He also introduces Superfly Jimmy Snuka, one of the contestants from the previous night’s Money in the Bank match. Piper begins into insult Snuka not only about losing but about his heritage and makes several of his risqué borderline racist comments. When Snuka begins to get annoyed, Piper cracks him over the head with a coconut and beats him down. This leads to Snuka challenging Piper for the MITB briefcase at Summerslam.
A 4 man tournament takes place to determine who will face Hulk Hogan at Summerslam. In the first rounds Paul Orndorff defeats Tito Santana and Andre the Giant defeats Big John Studd. However in the final, Orndorff is able to beat Andre with a bit of interference by John Studd.
SUMMERSLAM 84 19th August
MITB Briefcase match
Rowdy Roddy Piper vs Jimmy Snuka
Big grudge match here with Snuka out for revenge. However, with a little interference form Cowboy Bob Orton, Piper secures a victory. He grabs his briefcase and runs out quickly.

Steel cage match
Big John Studd V Andre the Giant
Another grudge match with this one being settled inside a cage, so they’re be no countouts or DQs. The victory goes to Andre, who escapes through the door after its broken open when Studd gets thrown at it.

WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan (c) V Paul Orndorff
A hard fought victory for the Hulkster who once again delivers the leg drop followed by the pin. However, as he celebrates, Piper runs in from the crowd and clobbers Hogan with the briefcase. He hands the case to the ref who rings the bell and starts the match. Piper covers Hogan and the ref makes the 3 count. Roddy Piper is the new champion.

RAW
Hogan is angry to have lost the title by such a cheap way. He tears up the set of Piper’s Pit and cuts a promo that Piper cannot hide from the him. As long as he is wearing the title that he stole, he’ll always be a target. Roddy appears on the big screen, taunting and insulting Hogan.
During the weeks leading up to Unforgiven, Hogan has matches against Bob Orton and the Iron Sheik. Each time Hogan is successful in beating them and each time Piper appears on the big screen taunting him. Its during a match with Greg Valentine were Pipers video message plays during the match. What Hogan doesn’t know is that the video message is pre recorded and while he watches it (and Valentine is lying knocked out), Piper sneaks into the ring from the crowd and nails Hogan with the belt.
It is then announced that Piper will defend the title at Unforgiven against Hogan.
UNFORGIVEN 30th September
IC Championship
Greg Valentine (c) V Tito Santanna
Valentine takes on the man who he beat for the IC title and Santanna is finally successful in regaining it. He begins his second reign.

WWF Championship
Rowdy Roddy Piper (c) V Hulk Hogan
The crowd are all over this. They want to see Piper get his comeuppance and for Hogan to take the back. The match follows the flow of a typical Hogan match but when Piper is sent off the ropes to receive the big boot, he holds onto the ropes. He rolls out and casually walks towards the back. The ref begins the 10 count but Hogan chases after him and drags him into the ring. He hits the big boot, followed by the leg drop but as he covers, Bob Orton rushes in and causes the DQ. Piper grabs the belt and makes his escape. While Piper flees, Hogan slams Orton and leg drops.

RAW
Mean Gene is in the ring and he brings down Hulk Hogan. Hogan not happy with how Piper has managed to escape with the title. He demands that Piper ‘Man up’ and fight to the bitter end. Piper comes down, waving the title in Hulk’s face. Before Piper can get an insult in, Hogan attacks him and throws him out of the ring. Crowd goes mad as Hogan rips his shirt off and throws it at Pipers face. Piper flees.
The next week, a lumberjack match is set between Piper and Hogan for thetitl e. Andre, Tito Santana, Snuka, Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo on Hogan’s side of the ring while John Studd, Bob Orton, Paul Orndorff, Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff on Piper's. However the match completely breaks down when the lumberjacks start fighting amongst each other. Piper uses this chaos to flee from the ring with the belt
WWF president Jack Tunney annouced that Piper will defend the WWF title against Hogan inside Hell in a Cell.
HELL IN A CELL 28th October
WWF Championship Hell in a Cell
Rowdy Roddy Piper (c) V Hulk Hogan
Piper has nowhere to run and nobody to come out to help him as now he is locked inside the cell with the Hulkster. A brutal battle with blood flowing. Hulk finally gets his revenge by slamming Piper onto the steel steps in the the ring and scores the pin. Hulk takes the title for the third time.

RAW
It’s the build up to Survivor Series and Hogan and Piper are to captain a 5 man team and go into battle. The weeks leading up to Survivor Series consist of the two captains rounding up team mates

SURVIVOR SERIES 25th November
Team Hogan- Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Tito Santanna, Barry Windgam and Mike Rotundo
Team Piper– Rowdy Roddy Piper, Big John Studd, Paul Orndorff, Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.
The match starts with lots of quick tags between both teams. The first to get eliminated is Tito Santanna who gets a piledriver from Paul Orndorff.
Next is a double elimination as both Andre and Studd both get counted out as they brawl outside. It’s 3 on Hogan’s side and 4 on Pipers.
Paul Orndorff is taken out, by Hogan’s boot to even the score and the Sheik falls afterwards to put Hogan’s team in the lead for the first time.
However, Piper and Volkoff fight back, with Piper taking Mike Rotundo out with a sleeper and shortly followed by Volkoff taking Barry Windgam out with a bear hug.
Its now Hogan going it alone against 2 opponents. He holds it well against Volkoff until he gets trapped in a bear hug.He makes it to the ropes but Volkoff refuses to let go.The ref counts to 5 but he still doesn’t release the hold. The ref has no choice but to disqualify Volkoff. Eventually he releases the hold and raises his hand in victory.The crowd boos as he leaves the ring, hands still raised.
Piper smiles, its down to him and Hogan, and Hogan doesn’t look like he’s in good shape. Piper lays the boot in for several minutes and then goes for the pin. Hulk kicks out at 2 and Hulks up.Piper throws punches but to no effect. Hogan replies with a few punches, a big boot and leg drop.He covers Piper for the 3 and celebrates in the ring.

RAW
We’re building towards the final PPV of the year.Paul Orndorff is successful in defeating Tito Santanna for the IC title.
Nikolai Volkoff is making a nuisance of himself by singing the Russian national anthem at the beginning of every show and then destroying a few of the lower card wrestlers.Hogan doesn’t see to kindly to this so they have a match at the next PPV.A tag match on the last show before the PPV of Hogan & Santanna V Volkoff & Orndorff takes place with Santanna taking the pin from Orndorff.
TLC 16th December 1984
IC Championship Ladder Match
Paul Orndorff (C) V Tito Santanna V Gregg Valentine
Orndorff defends his newly acquired IC title in a triple threat match against 2 former champions. Gregg Valentine proves victorious in this battle.

Table Match
Andre the Giant V John Studd
A table match between the 2 giants were the winner is the first man to drive his opponent through a table.Andre wins by slamming Studd through the Spanish announce table.However the decision is reversed when it is ruled that the announcing table isn’t one of the valid tables.The match is restarted and Andre sets a table leaning up in the corner of the ring. He whips Studd towards it but Studd reverses it and Andre is thrown through the table.

Chair Match
Roddy Piper V Superfly Jimmy Snuka
The feud between these 2 men continues with Snuka getting the victory after nailing Piper with a steel chair shot from the top rope.

WWF Championship TLC match
Hulk Hogan V Nikolai Volkoff
Its USA v Russia and since it’s the 80s the crowd is booing like crazy against Volkoff. Hogan comes down to the ring waving the US flag and the crowd goes nuts. In the end, Hogan slams Volkoff through a table and climbs the ladder to the title.The show ends with Hogan, standing on the top of the ladder, belt in one hand, the flag in the other.
And so ends 1984. ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?44063-What-if-WWF-1984-was-booked-21st-Century-style What if the Montreal Screwjob never happened? http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43994-What-if-the-Montreal-Screwjob-never-happened Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:16:09 GMT *Alternate Universe 5 * 9th November 1997. Survivor Series. One of the most talked about and discussed wrestling matches ever. Bret Hart had... Alternate Universe 5

9th November 1997. Survivor Series. One of the most talked about and discussed wrestling matches ever. Bret Hart had signed a contract to work with company rival WCW. The problem for the McMahons and WWF was that Bret was the champion. To make things a little more difficult was that while he had a PPV title defense against Shawn Michaels, who would be (and was) an adequate person to take the title off him, Bret and Shawn had backstage personal and political issues. In short, Hart wasn't prepared to drop the title to Michaels in Canada.Vince got a little worried; he didn't want the champion of his company, leaving to his rival without having been beaten for the title. It would make his top tier championship look bad and it would be a nightmare if he appeared on Nitro with the WWF championship. So the plan was for to Shawn to beat Bret in the main event by submission and win the title which was what happened. It's just they didn't tell Bret thats what they were going to do. And when they did it, Bret was pissed. He left on bad terms and Bulldog and Neidhart went to WCW with him.

Its been well talked about and discussed over the years and usually ends in many heated words. The conversation usually goes around in circles if you ever view it in various forums.

"Bret had creative control. He had a say how he had to lose"
"He should have dropped the belt if he was going"
"Shawn was a dick and did shit like this all the time"
"2 wrongs don't make a right, he should have done his job and lost"
(and return to top and repeat til the end of time)

But what if there was a solution? What if they didn't have to trick Bret into losing the title? And what would happen to those involved down the line?

What if the Montreal Screw Job never happened?

Quite a big 'what if.' First, to make it really work, we need to come up with an alterative Survivor Series 97 ending. After the bad blood between Hart and Michaels then it might be a but much to expect Hart to do the job on home soil to a man who he geninally didn't like. The plan (as far as Bret was aware) was that Survivor Series would end on a double DQ. The next night on RAW he would vacant the title with a farewell speech. While Shawn did that a year and a half earlier and Edge would do it over a decade later, neither of these men were leaving for a rival company which was beating WWF in the ratings.
But perhaps it would be ok, if they went along with the double DQ Survivor Series ending and on RAW the next day while making his farewell speech, he was interrupted and challenged to an impromptu match? One of the names mentioned in the debates and pieces of news that have come out over the years was that of Ken Shamrock. Shamrock later down the line would be a Intercontential and tag team champion as well as winning the 1998 King of the Ring. So for the sake of the set up lets say, the MSJ never happened and the next night on RAW, Ken Shamrock after challenging Bret to a final match, became the WWF champion. What happens to everyone?

Bret Hart - Bret Hart goes to WCW were he has a (compared to his WWF stint) relatively disappointing and underused career. Even when he came to WCW in the wake of the MSJ, they failed to really capatilise on him and so its fair to say things would be much the same if the screwjob never happened. Although he wouldn't have gotten the reputation he has over the years of a bitter man. And since he wouldn't be holding a grudge against the WWF and Vince, he may have returned when his contract with WCW ran out (although he was released slightly before the end due to the injury he received from Goldberg).
Of course, if Owen still gets involved with his Blue Blazer storyline and has the tradigic accident at Over the Edge, then this may still sour his relationship with the WWF and wrestling. However, without the initial screwjob, then prehaps Bret will forgive alot easier.
The Wrestling with Shadows documentary that was being filmed at the time, would be nowhere near as big as it became now that the excitment of the MSJ never happened.

Shawn Michaels - Despite not winning the title at Survivor Series, Shawn would challenge the new WWF champion Ken Shamrock at the next PPV, the December In Your House. This is were he will take the championship (by dastardly cheating means) from Shamrock who is merely a transitional champion. Shawn will continue his run as normal, handing the Euro title to HHH, continuing his feud with the Undertaker at the Rumble and finally ending up at Wrestlemania 14, dropping the title to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and the British Bulldog - After the screwjob, the Bulldog asked for his release and went to WCW with Jim Neidhart. Without the screwjob, there's be no need for both of them to leave. Neidhart would probably fill out the bottom of the wrestling cards, jobbing to new talent before quietly being released. Owen and the Bulldog would possibly reform their tag team partnership and continue to do well in the tag team division with feuds with the New Age Outlaws and the returned Legion of Doom.
The sad thing is, without going to WCW, Bulldog would not have received the injury he did at Fall Brawl 98. It was this injury (where he landed badly on a trap door in the ring) which damaged Bulldogs back and led to his problems with painkillers. Bulldog died of a heart attack aged only 39 in May 2002 although it may have been down to years of steroid abuse.

Ravishing Rick Rude - After the MSJ Rick Rude, outraged with what happened to Bret, left WWF for WCW. Since Rude was not on a fixed contract with WWF he was able to do this quite easily. Without the MSJ, Rude would not have the desire to leave and so would remain helping out DX. When DX expands to include the New Age Outlaws and X-pac, Rude may look a little like an odd man out despite being a non wrestling member so would probably slip away from the group over time.
Sadly Rude died of heart attack in April of 1999.

Vince McMahon - The 'Mr McMahon' character is often said to have his roots at the MSJ. And they also say it was the Mr McMahon character that worked against anti authority hero Steve Austin in the storyline that saved the WWF.
However if you look back, the Mr McMahon character was well on the way to being created before the 1997 Survivor Series. Granted it may have given the character an extra kick jump but it was on Raw on 22 September that Steve Austin first gave McMahon a stone cold stunner. The first of many. By that point, everyone knew that Vince was not just a simple commentator but rather the big boss who, in kayfabe, was not impressed with Stone Cold's actions. With the continuing rise of Steve Austin's character and popularity, it was inevitable that this would antagonize the boss when Austin becomes champion at Wrestlemania 14, and so the Austin/McMahon saga was bound to happen regardless what happened at Montreal.

In Conclusion...
For such a massive talked about event, the MSJ probably didn't change the wrestling landscape much at all. It wouldn't have much impact on the Monday night wars and WCW would still be bought out when it did. We wouldn't see the booking of so many of the copycat screwjob match finishes and Bret may not have been as bitter as he became for so long. Vince wouldn't get the 'You screwed Bret' chants but the Mr McMahon character would still be there to give Steve Austin hell and provide us with some of the most amazing wrestling TV.

So what if Steve Austin never came to WWF....? Hmmmmmm?



---------------------------------------------------------
edit - Just want to give a quick shout and thanks to the responces the Alternative Universes have being recieving- much thanks!
Have a safe Halloween and just to let you know on Halloween and the day after, my second novella 'PREY FOR THE VAMPIRE'. is free! so check it out on Amazon. All the best,
Michael
 ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43994-What-if-the-Montreal-Screwjob-never-happened <![CDATA[What if Marty Janetty wasn't a Janetty?]]> http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43913-What-if-Marty-Janetty-wasn-t-a-Janetty Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:18:03 GMT Sometimes somebody’s name can become a valid word. Charles Cunningham Boycott gave us the word ‘Boycott’ for example. And if you described somebody... Sometimes somebody’s name can become a valid word. Charles Cunningham Boycott gave us the word ‘Boycott’ for example. And if you described somebody as a ‘Hitler’ you’ll all know what that person is like.
In wrestling circles, poor Marty Jannetty’s name has come to mean quite a negative thing; The lesser member of the tag team. Or the member who has the less successful singles career. Basically the Zeppo Marx of the team. But how would it be if things were slightly better for Marty? How would (or could) his wrestling path go…?

Alternative universes 4: What if Marty Jannetty wasn’t a ‘Jannetty’?

The Rockers were amongst the greatest tag teams the WWF had in the late 80s and early 90s. It still amazes people to this day that they never got an official reign with the titles. When they spilt, Shawn Michaels became the heel initially, had several Intercontential reigns, 2 rumble wins and a WWF title win at Wrestlemania. Later on he would become a founding member of DX and in the twightlight of his career would become a Hall of Famer and get a classic send off in his final match.
So where did Marty go wrong? Well there’s a few things that needed to be changed. 3 main things in fact.

The gimmick. When Marty came back a year after the ‘barber shop window’ incident he had the same outfit, music and look as before. It may have worked back in the days of the Rockers but we were entering the early nineties and hair metal and cock rock was being hammered out of fashion by grunge and the other Seattle rock bands. Nobody wanted to see the Poison or Van Halen look.
Marty needed to cut the hair shorter. Maybe not a short back and sides but something different. And maybe a bit of facial hair like a goatee to get rid of that clean cut smiling happy man. This is a man whose friend and partner who betrayed him and assaulted him hence putting him out of action for the best part of the year. (In real life, Marty was actually fired and under house arrest for getting involved with a scuffle with a cop). And the spandex tights have to go as well. In its place, darker street clothes and perhaps a leather jacket as ring attire. In fact, try to imagine Raven’s attire. This would be the perfect ying to the yang of Michael’s flamboyant male stripper gimmick.
Personality wise, Marty would have to be a darker, moodier character. Not quite levels of Undertaker but somebody who wants nothing more than revenge on his former friend. Although a face, his character would have slight traits of a heel, foreshadowing the attitude era.

Behaving Himself. As mentioned before, Jannetty had a little problem with the police causing him to miss most of 1992. In fact, if you look at Janetty’s WWF/WWE Employment history, you’ll see the constant firing and re-hiring. Some due to getting himself arrested. It is difficult to keep your career on a high if you’re dealing with the law and/or ‘extra curricular activities’

Getting in with the Klik. During the 90s, five men were considered a powerful political force behind the scenes. Shawn Michaels, Kevin ‘Diesel’ Nash, Scott ‘Razor Ramon’ Hall, Sean ‘1 2 3 Kid’ Waltman and Hunter Hearse Hemsley. If Marty had reason number 2 (Behaving Himself) under control and remained tight with Shawn Michaels, he could have been the 6th man of the group.
He had a meaningless week long tag title reign with the 1 2 3 Kid, but if he was closer in the group then perhaps the team of Janetty and Kid would have more and longer reigns. Potentially there is a Michaels & Diesel/Jannetty & Kid tag team feud (Incidentally if you can find it, there’s a fantastic Michaels& Diesel vs Razor Ramon & 123 Kid tag title match on RAW). Also it would be entirely possible that one of the Michaels/Razor ladder matches that took place at Wrestlemania X and Summerslam 95 would be Michaels/Jannetty...

Then the interesting part. The Klik spilt with Diesel and Razor Ramon heading for WCW to start the nWo angle with Hogan while Michaels and HHH formed DX.
If Jannetty stayed with the WWF, there’d be a strong chance he would have been part of DX. As the Hart family buried the hatchet and joined forces then perhaps Jannetty and Michaels in the storyline could as well.
We would see an interesting feud with the Hart family, perhaps with 6 men tag matches against Bret, Owen and Davey. And they could easily add Chyna and Jim Neidhart to make it 8 men tag.
And maybe when Shawn took his first retirement, Jannetty, rather than HHH, would be the new leader.Or at least, the two could fued over being leader...

Or what if he went with Nash and Hall to WCW? What if it was 3 outsiders instead of just Hall and Nash? The original Bash at the Beach in 1996 ended up being Savage, Luger and Sting vs Hall, Nash and a mystery third man (which turned out to be Hulk Hogan). In this alternative booking it would be an 8 man match with the WCW faces being announced as Savage, Luger, Sting and a returning Hogan against the team of Hall, Nash, Jannetty and a mystery fourth man (heavy rumours would circle around it being one of the four horsemen i.e. Flair). On the night of Bash at the Beach, it would announced via Tony or Bobby Heenan that Hogan had been assaulted in his dressing room and may not be able to join his team. Then later in the night, when Hogan made his way to the ring during the main event, everyone will think he’s down to help his own team. However as we all know, Hogan was the other nWo member and this is where he made his dramatic heel turn. In this alternative booking world, the nWo would start off as a powerful four man team running over WCW. The WCW US championship would end up firmly round the waste of Jannetty while the World and tag team titles would be with Hogan, Nash and Hall.

Conclusion.
It is amazing when you look at old matches of the Rockers and how one of these guys goes on to have an outstanding career while the other fizzles to the lower leagues. It wasn’t like they were drastically different like the way Bret Hart and Jim Anvail were both different types of wrestler.
But lets end it on a positive note. Granted, Marty didn’t have the success Shawn had, and he didn’t end his career at the highest point but he has wrestling experiences that thousands of other wrestlers would kill for.
He was in a tag team that is considered to be legendary in the world of tag teams. He held the WWF IC and Tag Titles, although briefly, but in a time when their value was worth more than it is now. He wrestled in front of crowds of thousands in many different countries. He wrestled on several PPVs for the biggest wrestling company in America and the world (Including being in the main event of the 1989 Survivor Series- along with Andre the Giant and Ultimate Warrior). He had his own action figures and I’m sure he didn’t have a shortage of ladies to keep him company at night.

So maybe being a Jannetty is ok. ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43913-What-if-Marty-Janetty-wasn-t-a-Janetty Alternative Universe 2 - SummerSlam 1987..? http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43095-Alternative-Universe-2-SummerSlam-1987 Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:14:51 GMT Summerslam. Often see as the number 2 of the big 4 PPVs, just after Wrestlemania in importance. But it was actually Survivor Series that appeared in... Summerslam. Often see as the number 2 of the big 4 PPVs, just after Wrestlemania in importance. But it was actually Survivor Series that appeared in the WWF calendar first, way back in 1987. The first Summerslam appeared the following year in 1988, main evented by the tag match of the Mega Powers against the Mega Bucks.
Even today with the arguably over satuation in the PPV market, Summerslam still has kept its prestige while Survivor Series has dropped down, even to the point where it nearly disappeared entirely.
But what if in 1987 it wasn’t Survivor Series that appeared first? What if there was a Summerslam 87 instead? And what would the card look like?

Summerslam 87

Sunday 23rd August Madison Square Gardens

We are live from New York and on commentary we have Gorilla Monsoon and Jessie “The Body” Venture.

Match 1
WWF Tag Title championship
Hart Foundation w/Jimmy Hart vs British Bulldogs
The opening match of the very first Summerslam and it’s for the tag titles. The Hart Foundation, heels during their first title reign, first won the titles from the British Bulldogs back in January 87. At Wrestlemania III they defeated the Bulldogs in a 6 man tag. Tonight the Bulldogs have a chance of revenge as they take on the Hart Foundation. However, despite many close calls, the Hitman and Anvil steal this one by pinfall (with a little bit of help from Jimmy Hart’s megaphone).

Match 2
Bam Bam Bigelow w/Oliver Humperdink vs Nikolai Volkoff w/Slick
Bigelow made his debut in the WWF in May of 87 which began ‘the battle for Bam Bam’ storyline. Various heel mangers were after the big man's contract but Bigelow turned them all down and choose Oliver Humperdink, making him a face.
Obviously the heel managers were not impressed with his choice so Slick tries to get even with Bigelow by having Niklolai Volkoff (a communist heel) go up against him. Bam Bam Bigelow defeats Volkoff by pinfall and manages to get a few punches to Slick at the end of the match.

Match 3
The Ultimate Warrior vs Dangerous" Danny Davis
The Warrior signed with WWF a few months before hand working house shows. This is a simple squash match that the Warrior is famous for. Dangerous Danny gets zero offence in and is left lying on the mat pinned before anyone knows what happens.

Match 4
Strike Force vs The Islanders
At the time of Summerslam the team of Strike Force is barely a few weeks old. Rick Martel was suffering a beat down on Superstars by the team of the Islanders when Tito Santana makes the save and thus the team of Strike Force was born. Strike Force will in a couple of months, go on to be the team to beat the Hart Foundation for the tag titles. The Islanders will be the first team they defeat as they begin their path to tag team gold. Strike Force win when Martel applies his boston crab to Haku and gets a submission.

Match 5
Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs Gregg "The Hammer" Valentine w/ Dino Bravo
The former Dream Team tag team partners of Beefcake and Valentine split up at Wrestlemania III. Valentine and Bravo booted Beefcake out of their gang and formed the New Dream Team. Beefcake near the end of the match has Valentine slapped in the sleeper and near uncounicious when Bravo runs in and causes the DQ. Beefcake fights him off and gets the sleeper on Bravo. Once he falls uncouncious, Beefcake gets the shears out and cuts Dino Bravo's hair while Valentine staggers down the isle unknowing (or caring) that his partner is getting a haircut.

Match 6
Demolition & Killer Khan w/ Mr Fugi vs The Killer Bees & Hillbilly Jim
A 6 man tag match. Demolition are due to win the title at the following year's Wrestlemania so we'll have to keep them strong. Hillybilly Jim takes the pin after receiving Demolitions backbreaker/elbow drop finisher.

Match 7
"The Birdman" Koko B. Ware vs "Ravishing" Rick Rude
Rude joined the WWF a month or so earlier so he's still quite new to the crowd. He quickly gets the crowd against him when he does his slowly removal of his robe while insulting the males in the crowd. The Birdman Koko takes a loss here and put the new comer over as gets hit with the Rude Awakening.

Match 8
Intercontiental Title Championship
Honky Tonk man w/ Jimmy Hart vs Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth
Honky Tonk Man defeated Ricky Steamboat for the IC title in June of 1987. Apparently Steamboat was supposed to have a lengthy reign but a spanner was thrown in the works when he asked for time off to be with his wife who was due to give birth. Idealy it would be better if Honky won the title at Summerslam but since this would be during Steamboats paternity leave, we'll have him drop the title in June as before.
Randy Savage, the man who lost the title to Steamboat, will challange HTM for the title. Unfortunatly, HTM is a typical chicken-shit heel who would rather take a DQ loss than lose the title. Saveage gets close to winning when the Hart Foundation rush the ring and lay a beat down thus disquailifying HTM. Hart and Neidhart hold Savage up as the HTM goes to smash his head with his guitar. Elizabeth gets in the way so Honky pushes her away and hits Savage. The heels end up running away when Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid rush down to the ring to make the save. Officals come down to the ring and they all help Savage walk to the back. Later in the year, Savage will get his revenge in a series of 6 man tag matches with The Bulldogs on his team, and the Hart Foundation on the HTM side. Savage gets to beat HTM but the title will remain on Honky til next years Summerslam.

Match 9
Junkyard Dog vs The One Man Gang
A normal one on one match without any hype or back story. Junkyard Dog gets the win here to help get the crowd back in a good mood after seeing Savage get a beating in the match before.

Match 10
Hulk Hogan & Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs Andre the Giant & King Kong Bundy w/Bobby Heenan
Since Summerslam 88, 89 and 91 all had tag team main events, we'll make sure 87 starts the tradition. Hulk Hogan, being the champion, without doubt will have to be one of the particpants. Andre would have to be his oppenent as we're just past their big clash at Wrestlemania III and later down the line Andre beats Hogan in the infamous double referre controversy. Andre's tag partner would have to be another member of the Heenan family and King Kong Bundy fits that role perfectly.
As for Hogan's partner, there's a few other choices. Bam Bam Bigelow would have worked, as would have Ricky Steamboat (if he was about). Paul Orndorff would also be a possibility as he had a on off relationship with Hogan. Orndorff fueded with Hogan after Wrestlemania III but turned face again. There could have been a big 'can Hogan trust Mr Wonderfull?' angle going.However I have deceided to go with fan favourite Jake Roberts as Hogans partner. Jake had turned face round the time of Wrestlemania III and was over with the fans.
Before the match, Sean Mooney is backstage with Andre, Bundy and Heenan. They cut a promo about beating up the Hulkster and Roberts. They look very scary.
We cut to Gene Orkland who is with Hogan and Roberts. Roberts cuts one of his cutting promos while Hogan finishes off by talking about his pythons and Jake's python as well (i'm sure there's an innudeno in there). "WHA'TCH YA GONNA DO WHEN HULKMANIA, THE SNAKE AND DAMIEN RUN WILD ON YOOOOOOU??!!!"
The match will end after 15 minutes with Bundy taking the pin from Hogan after a big slam and leg drop while Andre and Jake are fighting on the outside. Andre gets the better of Jake and rushes in to lay a beat down on Hogan. Bundy gets up and joins in and Bobby Heenan gets a few kicks in. Jake is groogy and there's no way he can save Hogan.... but he reaches for his bag and opens it. He throws Damien into the ring and the heels clear the ring and race to the back stage. Unfortubnaly for Heenan, Jake grabs him and throws him back into the ring. Hogan gives him a boot on the face and as he lies on the mat, Jake puts Damien over him. When he comes round and realises that he's got a snake on him, he freaks out and runs to. Jake grabs Damien and chases him to the back, leaving Hogan alone in the ring to dance to Real American for the last couple of minutes.



Anyway, thanks for reading. And thanks for all the positive comments from the last blog. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it. ]]> Michael Burnside http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?43095-Alternative-Universe-2-SummerSlam-1987