What if Shawn had gone to WCW?

[Tenta]

I saw someone do one of these "What if" questions a couple of days ago, about what if Vince had died instead of Owen Hart. I found it extremely interesting, and a lot of creative ideas came up. So I thought I'd come up with one of my own.

It's been rumored that when Eric Bischoff was planning the NWO, he had a certain idea in mind. Sure, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were huge in the concept of the NWO. But there was another name that was being tossed around. A name that never made the jump, out of sheer loyalty to Vince McMahon. That name, from what I understand was good ol' HBK himself. From what I understand, he was under contract, and I'm not sure for how long Shawn was under contract. Apparently, during WCW's big run, when they were also courting Bret Hart, Shawn told Vince multiple times that he the only person he felt should be paid more than him was Taker. My question is, what if, either during the invasion or even a little bit later, Shawn made the jump to WCW?

Feel free to take this in any direction you'd like, either saying how Shawn would do in WCW (Would he be buried by the bigger names? Would he have outperformed everyone and finally given WCW that main event name that could perform? What would happen to Sting? Hogan? Savage? Luger?), what would have happened to the WWE (Would it have died? Would Attitude have been born? How about DX?)

I personally feel three things:

1. Attitude would never have been born. I know, Vince oversaw it, but I don't think people give Shawn enough credit for the role he played in bringing "Attitude" to the WWE. Triple H didn't have nearly enough clout to bring the idea up to Vince himself, and neither did Steve Austin. I feel like only two people could have swayed Vince to make Attitude as edgy as it was. One of them is Taker, and I'm not sure how much into the concept of Attitude he was. The other, of course, was Shawn. Wasn't it Shawn that, with Triple H, and maybe Diesel and Razor when they were there, told Vinny Mac that this was what the WWE needed against WCW? I may be wrong, but I see Shawn as pivotal to the development of Attitude.

2. No Shawn= No Montreal Screwjob. Let's face it, Bret's only beef was that he wasn't going to lose the belt to Shawn in Canada. I'd bet money if he were to drop the strap to Austin or Taker, there wouldn't have been an issue. And, well, with no Montreal Screwjob, no "Mr. McMahon". No Mr. McMahon means no one to fight Austin. Goodbye, Austin V.S. Vince. Hello...... What? Months of Taker and Kane? The N.O.D and Ahmed Johnson?

3. Shawn probably would have run into politics. What was once the best talent in WWF is relegated to the US Title. WCW runs the course that it did. A wrestling course with extreme political infighting, instability... But it's the only show around. For all we know, we could have had years of Flair V.S. Hogan.....

Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe his talent would be enough to get him over. Maybe he could have exemplary main event matches. Can you imagine HBK V.S. Sting? How about Flair (not 2008 Flair, more 1997 Flair. Which is still extremely damn good.) versus Shawn? Hell, even matches against Goldberg, Jericho.

I leave it up to y'all to decide what would happen.

 

[klunderbunker]

A lot of this depends on when you're talking about. If you mean at the beginning of his career, it's hard to say. WWF would have found someone to fill the spot that he would have had and there's really no way of telling how that would have played out. Shawn would have been an asset to WCW in some form, but I'm not sure he would have been the star he was in WWF.

Now if you're talking about at the prime of his career, it would have been a crushing blow to WWF. At the time, they had a handful of guys that could put on an entertaining match. There was Bret, Shawn, Owen, maybe a few others but for the most part that was it. Shawn was the centerpiece of the company when the company was at its lowest point. Now you can argue forever about whether he was the reason for that or not, but that's another story. Either way he had to help the company somehow, and his leaving would ahve been devastating. Also without Shawn, who knows what would have happened with the title situation in WWF. Shawn getting injured likely played a big role in Austin's first title victory. WIthout him, how would it have gone? Hard to say, but likely it would have been bad for WWF.

 

[Green Hero]

Its hard to say I mean Shawn was champion during WWF most highest time before they hit rock bottom(Attitude era) I think he would of gotten the same treatment DDP and Booker T got. But I don't know how well his wrestling would be since as Many former WCW wrestler have said that the WCW ring was so small all you could do are punch and kicks.

I think he would of made a great US champion and World champion

 

[klunderbunker]

While your conclusion of him being a great US and World Champion makes sense, how in the world do you get that the Attitude Era was rock bottom for them? Shawn's time as champion was one of if not the worst eras in company history. The ratings were through the floor and WCW was dominant. It wasn't until Shawn got hurt that ratings went through the roof. I could understand him being treated the same as Booker and DDP. That fits pretty well, but the ring wasn't that small. The Cruiserweights put on clinics almost every time they set foot in the ring, and they were better at it whan Shawn was.

 

[butsecks]

if he went to WCW (in the summer of 97, which in his book he says he wanted to leave wwf around that time) he wouldn't of been world champion...atleast while hogan was around. he would have been in the same area as scott hall and kevin nash and even xpac AND even bret hart ...he would probably just be a u.s champion.and a world champion by the year 2000 if he was still aroundin wcw and not really accomplishing much.

 

[milenniumman8]

If Shawn went to WCW to be apart of the NWO with Hall and Nash, I don't think there would have ever been a Hogan heel turn, and really that was what made the NWO as big as it was. How many of us thought that Hogan would ever be the 3rd partner at Bash at the Beach? I think the NWO angle would still have been big, but not nearly as big.

Here's another scenario. Keep Hogan with the NWO, then put Shawn, along with Flair, Benoit, and another as the Horsemen. If they would have really wanted to run with that stable of Horsemen it would have been HUGE. I don't think Mcmichael or Malenko would do the trick to battle the nwo though, and Arn Anderson was at the downside of his career. I think Shawn would have had some great matches with Sting though. That has always been one of my dream matches. As far as Bret Hart goes, if Shawn would have went to WCW I don't think Hitman ever leaves the WWF. I think WWF could've still been as big in the attitude era without Shawn if you would've kept the Hart Foundation heel and still found a way to incorporate McMahon into the bad boss gimmick. There might never have been a D-X or they could've easily put another big name with a young HHH and started that faction off right away with the Outlaws.

We could go on and on with what could've happened and there are some great storylines it could've created. And it would've been interesting to see where both companies would be at now(would wcw still be in business?). It will always be one of the great unanswered questions about the business.

 

[cubwannabear]

If Shawn Michaels had went to WCW the NWO could have only gotten better. Look at what he did with the cliqu-ish DX. All those skits weren't the imagination of Triple H, he's not that creative. Plus like Sting & Nash, Shawn Michaels doesn't have a problem in putting young guys over like Eric Bischoff & Hogan did at the time.
Like most of the big names drawn to WCW at the time most had creative control over their character. Shawn has a knack of creating a story in his feuds. Look at the story line with Chris Jehrico and JBL. I know he wouldn't let his character get buried and pulled the plug on his affiliation with the NWO after it ran its course.
I believe we would have seen more Shawn Michaels type matches than kick and punch matches we saw with Hogan & Bischoff in charge. It would've probably been a different atmosphere in WCW letting Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerro, Chris Jehrico shine there instead of being delegated to cruiserwieght status, quitting & head to WWE.
The down side would be no Degeneration X. It was the product of Shawn Michaels. Hard core wrestling fans or DX marks can say it was the product of the creative team & Vince Russo or the idea of Vince Mcmahon. Every one of you know it's hog wash. Triple H in charge? Puh-leese, he was wannabe mid-carder at the time. It wasn't until his friendship/affiliation with Michaels in DX did Hunter become a house hold name.
So what direction would the WWE had taken at the time with the "Attitude" era? I'm sure Triple H would have been then pushed as a top heel to replace Michaels if he left for WCW and prepped for feuds with Steve Austin & The Rock. At the time he wasn't sleeping his way to the top just yet. Anyway, DX wouldn't existed or became what it was if Shawn Michaels had left for WCW. Neither DX nor WWE would have had a chance. Just think Vince McMahon would have just lost two of its major stars in Brett Hart & Shawn Michaels.

 

[Slam Master]

There's a lot of things that would have happened that would have caused huge reprocussions:

1) He would have never wreslted in that casket match and never broke his back.

2) No DX. The attitude era would have started without him or it woulda been vastly different.

3) He would have been another HUGE EGO added to the already huge ego list they had down there.

4) His wife would have seen the old, drug addict, cocky, insecure, neurotic Shawn and probably wouldn't have ended up with him.

5) No screwjob. There woulda been way less hatred between the 2. Bret would have ultimately stayed a WWF-lifer.

6) His drug problems would have escalated to the point that he might not have made it, and could have became a casualty of the wrestling lifestyle.