What is the biggest missed booking opportunity ever and how would you rebook it?
- Thread starter roipdh123
- Start date
Summer of Punk simply because they had their next big "superstar" right in the palm of their hands and let it slip through their hands., I don't have a full in depth booking of it but now that WWE are open to working with Indy promotions it makes this scenario more plausible and frustrating that it never happened. He should have turned up at various promotions and put the title on the line or at least turned up and taunted people. Have him go on talk shows and laugh at Vince, make it controversial. Then return for the road to Wrestlemania.
World Class Mark
Occasional Pre-Show
Based on this list, the two that clearly are above the others (due to the fact that both happened long ago and are still being talked about) are 1) WM8 main event, and 2) Invasion.
Flair vs. Hogan would have been HUGE. Instead they never had it, and then it's even worse since when WCW was able to get their hands on the match, they completely ruined it with terrible booking and Hogan being …. Hogan. Might the same thing have happened anyway at WM8? Probably. Hogan wouldn't job to anybody, so ironically it's better the match never happened. But regardless, it's still the biggest missed booking opportunity WWE ever had.
As for the Invasion, well, that, too, was a lost cause from the beginning. It should have never gone down so 1-sided, so quickly, without much thought, and at the expense of their greatest purchase/investment of talent at one time.
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Flair vs. Hogan would have been HUGE. Instead they never had it, and then it's even worse since when WCW was able to get their hands on the match, they completely ruined it with terrible booking and Hogan being …. Hogan. Might the same thing have happened anyway at WM8? Probably. Hogan wouldn't job to anybody, so ironically it's better the match never happened. But regardless, it's still the biggest missed booking opportunity WWE ever had.
As for the Invasion, well, that, too, was a lost cause from the beginning. It should have never gone down so 1-sided, so quickly, without much thought, and at the expense of their greatest purchase/investment of talent at one time.
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d_henderson1810
Mid-Card Championship Winner
A couple of recent stories I would re-do:-
SS last year:- In the build-up, Triple H offers Roman Reigns to win the WWE tourney "easily" if he joins the Authority. Roman refuses.
Do the same thing they did until the final. Roman beats Dean Ambrose in the final, but cheats to do it, and wins the WWE Title.
Triple H then comes down to confront Roman, and Roman extends his hand, and joins the Alliance. Roman then spears and takes apart his ex-best friend, Dean Ambrose, who is off air until he wins the Royal Rumble and battles Roman at WM32.
2) I would re-do the Shane McMahon running Raw storyline.
Shane interrupts Steph being presented with the Vincent J McMahon Award. Triple H is at the ceremony as well, to see his wife win.
Triple H confronts Shane, and the two exchange words. Shane then says that he wants to run Raw, and there is only one way to do it, beat the man who took his "place" at the WWE boardroom table-Triple H.
Vince makes the match at WM32 a Hell-In-A-Cell Match. So it will be brother versus husband. Son versus son-in-law. Shane v Triple H at WM32 in a HIAC. The winner runs "Raw".
(I would remove the Undertaker from the match completely, and give him another match at WM32 instead).
SS last year:- In the build-up, Triple H offers Roman Reigns to win the WWE tourney "easily" if he joins the Authority. Roman refuses.
Do the same thing they did until the final. Roman beats Dean Ambrose in the final, but cheats to do it, and wins the WWE Title.
Triple H then comes down to confront Roman, and Roman extends his hand, and joins the Alliance. Roman then spears and takes apart his ex-best friend, Dean Ambrose, who is off air until he wins the Royal Rumble and battles Roman at WM32.
2) I would re-do the Shane McMahon running Raw storyline.
Shane interrupts Steph being presented with the Vincent J McMahon Award. Triple H is at the ceremony as well, to see his wife win.
Triple H confronts Shane, and the two exchange words. Shane then says that he wants to run Raw, and there is only one way to do it, beat the man who took his "place" at the WWE boardroom table-Triple H.
Vince makes the match at WM32 a Hell-In-A-Cell Match. So it will be brother versus husband. Son versus son-in-law. Shane v Triple H at WM32 in a HIAC. The winner runs "Raw".
(I would remove the Undertaker from the match completely, and give him another match at WM32 instead).
I voted other. Punk Vs Undertaker at WM29 should have had Punks championship on the line. Streak vs Streak would have been a much more interesting main event than Rock-Cena 2. That match didn't need the title and was entirely too predictable.Punk Vs Taker would have been the exact opposite. Their buildup was so weak that Paul Bearer had to die for it to be interesting.
Simple rebook. Punk initially retained the title against Rock at Rumble. But the stipulation was that if The Shield interfered, which they did, Punk would be stripped. Keep that stipulation, but this time Vince doesn't come out and restart the match. Everything happened with the lights out anyway. Paul Heyman ranting about how nobody has any proof that The Shield interfered would have been gold
Cena doesn't win the Rumble, instead Undertaker returns as a surprise entrant and wins. Punk faces Rock again at Elimination Chamber but Cena costs Rock the match in order to get his Wrestlemania rematch.
In hindsight, Punk getting this main event match may have kept him with the company longer. Also, I'll choose not to book the result. There's just too many options
Simple rebook. Punk initially retained the title against Rock at Rumble. But the stipulation was that if The Shield interfered, which they did, Punk would be stripped. Keep that stipulation, but this time Vince doesn't come out and restart the match. Everything happened with the lights out anyway. Paul Heyman ranting about how nobody has any proof that The Shield interfered would have been gold
Cena doesn't win the Rumble, instead Undertaker returns as a surprise entrant and wins. Punk faces Rock again at Elimination Chamber but Cena costs Rock the match in order to get his Wrestlemania rematch.
In hindsight, Punk getting this main event match may have kept him with the company longer. Also, I'll choose not to book the result. There's just too many options
shooter_mcgavin
Mid-Card Championship Winner
Those are all good choices but I would vote for the "Summer of Punk" only because CM Punk could have been WWE's not huge megastar if they played their cards right.
If you can list down the things to do and not to do after Punk's title win in Chicago, WWE did the exact opposite and lost a lot of the momentum he gained in the month or two after the pipe bomb.
It's not rocket science in what WWE should have done with Punk. Here are just some of the bullet points in what WWE could have done and what they did wrong.
- Keeping Punk off TV between MITB and Summer Slam. Have the finals of the tournament at Summer Slam his comic con run in that year after MITB was awesome. He should just have done that more. Tweet that he bought a ticket to Summer Slam so at the main event he goes to crowd sits at ringside with his WWE Title. Causing a commotion in the match which leads a stare down between Punk and the new Champion. Then do angle where Vince McMahon wants Punk to sign a contract maybe culminating in a match at Night of Champions or even Survivor Series where Punk wins the title.
Then things that should not have happened
- Inserting Triple H into the angle or at least so soon. When Triple H took over RAW, the show shifted it's focus to him and away from Punk. To add to that Nash made a surprise appearance powerboming Punk and putting the heat on Nash. To add insult to injury Triple H goes over Punk at the next PPV and Punk never got his revenge against Triple H and even Nash. Heck it was Triple H that beat Nash at TLC and not Punk. Also Punk and Triple H teaming up against The Miz and R-Truth and Punk doing the job was a big mistake.
- Del Rio cashing in. I am sorry but what heat Del Rio had died the moment he lost at WM27 and the next PPV to Edge and Christian respectively. By the time he was drafted to RAW and won MITB he just got lost on the shuffle. And winning the WWE Title did nothing for him at that point. At the MITB PPV after the main event, they should just have let Del Rio cash in but lose in a few seconds because Del Rio had no foreseeable spot at the main event picture in the medium term.
- Also Del Rio vs. Punk was not the best way for Punk to start his title run. If you followed my first point they could have done a Cena vs. Punk blow off at Survivor Series or Night of Champions and that is where Punk becomes the undisputed Champion.
- Punk's WM opponent. If I were to pick for an opponent for Punk at WM it would either be Triple H or Jericho. Preferably Triple H since Triple H does a good job building up stars if he wanted to. Plus Triple H is a bigger star than Jericho so it benefits Punk to be in a marquee match. Instead Punk wasn't even in the opening video package at WM28. Jericho is a fine opponent too but Jericho had ZERO momentum going into WM28, he doesn't win the rumble and loses at Elimination Chamber the month after. So in a kayfabe perspective what claim does he have to a title shot at WM? None. It made Jericho look weak leading at WM and hence hurt Punk as well. If they wanted to do Jericho vs. Punk, Jericho should have been an early Rumble entrant and win it. This build up their WM match a lot stronger.
- John Laurinaitis. Despite him antagonizing Punk for months it was Cena that gets to beat him at a PPV. The message here is clear then, Punk can't finish his own battles so we need Cena to do it for him.
If you can list down the things to do and not to do after Punk's title win in Chicago, WWE did the exact opposite and lost a lot of the momentum he gained in the month or two after the pipe bomb.
It's not rocket science in what WWE should have done with Punk. Here are just some of the bullet points in what WWE could have done and what they did wrong.
- Keeping Punk off TV between MITB and Summer Slam. Have the finals of the tournament at Summer Slam his comic con run in that year after MITB was awesome. He should just have done that more. Tweet that he bought a ticket to Summer Slam so at the main event he goes to crowd sits at ringside with his WWE Title. Causing a commotion in the match which leads a stare down between Punk and the new Champion. Then do angle where Vince McMahon wants Punk to sign a contract maybe culminating in a match at Night of Champions or even Survivor Series where Punk wins the title.
Then things that should not have happened
- Inserting Triple H into the angle or at least so soon. When Triple H took over RAW, the show shifted it's focus to him and away from Punk. To add to that Nash made a surprise appearance powerboming Punk and putting the heat on Nash. To add insult to injury Triple H goes over Punk at the next PPV and Punk never got his revenge against Triple H and even Nash. Heck it was Triple H that beat Nash at TLC and not Punk. Also Punk and Triple H teaming up against The Miz and R-Truth and Punk doing the job was a big mistake.
- Del Rio cashing in. I am sorry but what heat Del Rio had died the moment he lost at WM27 and the next PPV to Edge and Christian respectively. By the time he was drafted to RAW and won MITB he just got lost on the shuffle. And winning the WWE Title did nothing for him at that point. At the MITB PPV after the main event, they should just have let Del Rio cash in but lose in a few seconds because Del Rio had no foreseeable spot at the main event picture in the medium term.
- Also Del Rio vs. Punk was not the best way for Punk to start his title run. If you followed my first point they could have done a Cena vs. Punk blow off at Survivor Series or Night of Champions and that is where Punk becomes the undisputed Champion.
- Punk's WM opponent. If I were to pick for an opponent for Punk at WM it would either be Triple H or Jericho. Preferably Triple H since Triple H does a good job building up stars if he wanted to. Plus Triple H is a bigger star than Jericho so it benefits Punk to be in a marquee match. Instead Punk wasn't even in the opening video package at WM28. Jericho is a fine opponent too but Jericho had ZERO momentum going into WM28, he doesn't win the rumble and loses at Elimination Chamber the month after. So in a kayfabe perspective what claim does he have to a title shot at WM? None. It made Jericho look weak leading at WM and hence hurt Punk as well. If they wanted to do Jericho vs. Punk, Jericho should have been an early Rumble entrant and win it. This build up their WM match a lot stronger.
- John Laurinaitis. Despite him antagonizing Punk for months it was Cena that gets to beat him at a PPV. The message here is clear then, Punk can't finish his own battles so we need Cena to do it for him.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
Going much further back, and I have rebooked this a few times int he past...
Wrestlemania 7...
In short, Rick Rude is the one to take the title from the Ultimate Warrior at the rumble (he stays cos he knows this is happening) instead of Slaughter, Savage still interferes, leading to a feud with Warrior while Hogan battles Slaughter. In short we have ourselves a similar scenario to WM10 with multiple matches to determine who faces Rude in the main event. Thanks to Heenan's machinations, Hogan must face Slaughter while Savage and Warrior must face off - no retirement stip.
Jack Tunney steps in to "even up" the situation by not allowing Rude a "pass" - he decrees he has to wrestle Big Bossman in the opening match first.
So Our Mania 7 card (which ended up with 14 matches anyway) goes something like.
Dark Match
Power & Glory defeat The Bushwhackers
Opening Match
Rude vs Bossman - Heenan helps Rude escape with the title but is caught and given "Hard Time" after the match. He is stretchered out and is now out of the final match, much to Rude's chagrin.
Jake v Rick Martel -still happens as it did in a Blindfold match
Texas Tornado & The Rockers vs Barbarian, Haku & Dino Bravo - now without Heenan
The Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage - Savage upsets Warrior when The Undertaker interferes and puts him into a Body Bag.
The Hart Foundation vs The Nasty Boys - Bret isn't getting the IC as soon here, so he and Jim retain the tag titles a little longer. They'll lose them to the Rockers at Summerslam.
Hulk Hogan vs Sgt Slaughter - Hogan prevails but General Adnan gives Slaughter a fireball and Hogan is also taken to the ER.
The Undertaker defeats Jimmy Snuka
Davey Boy Smith defeats Mr. Perfect for the IC title as Heenan is not present to help him.
Virgil beats Ted DiBiase as happened
The Mountie defeats Tito Santana
The Legion Of Doom defeat Demolition
Main Event
Randy Savage vs Rick Rude
Originally scheduled to be a triple threat match, with Hogan's injury this becomes a Heel vs Heel main event. Strangely the odds still seem stacked against Rude as Heenan is unable to return and his stable has splintered throughout the night as a result. Savage has the upper hand until Sherri shockingly turns on him by nailing him with her spiked stilletto and kissing Rude! Rude scores the pinfall and begins to rough up Savage with Sherri until Elizabeth returns... She sees off Sherri and Rude is quick to "ditch her" and start to walk to the back...
As Savage and Liz reunite and Rude skulks to the back - Jack Tunney appears onscreen from the back with Mean Gene... telling Rude his night is not done yet and he needs to return to the ring or be stripped of the title...
By the time we cut back, Randy and Liz have left and Rude is alone in the ring... Cue some unusual music...and a WOOOOO!
Ric Flair walks out accompanied by... BOBBY HEENAN!
The match goes about 10 minutes, showcasing Flair's best and ends with Rude submitting to the Figure Four leglock. New WWF Champion - RIC FLAIR!
SO... a Mania where Hogan and Warrior are not the main event, where Rude is built up to lose? and Flair didn't sign till August right?
It was clear Ric was coming to the end of his deal, and I always felt that had Vince truly felt he had a shot at getting him over there at that time, Rude would have stayed.
This booking sees Rude not quite turn face, but staying around to feud with Flair, much as Bret ended up doing two years later.
Why would it have changed the WWF?
Rude was a perfect guy to help build the smaller champion/main event push at that time. He and Flair, he and Savage, he and Bret Hart, Perfect, Davey Boy and perhaps eventually even Sting would have been exciting matches in the WWF... Not all would be for the title, but Rude having that run, being booked strong rather than the debacle that started with his loss at Summerslam through to Flair's win in 92 at The Rumble damaged the WWF more than the roid scandal did at that time.
Hogan and Warrior are still in the mix, but at 7 they had a golden opportunity to spend some money, get Flair in and shift the focus away from them... had they done so, many of the guys who got over still would have - but it's conceivable that a Curt Hennig or Davey Boy could have been World Champions in that era legit. There would also have been a Four Horsemen... Flair would have had Bossman as his "Enforcer", Davey and Bret Hart most likely as the other two. That stable would have been great for Hogan AND Warrior to feud with.
Having Rude on your roster through to around 94 or even longer, would have helped guys like Bret, Owen, Hennig, Jake, Kerry all develop in the ring and just think what it could have done for Shawn Michaels!!!!
To me it's still the biggest mistake Vince ever made, letting Rude walk.. he literally was the best heel in the business at the time for WCW and played vital roles in bringing on Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Steve Austin, Brian Pillman and in building WCW to the point they could GET a Hogan or Savage... him as champ in 90-91 would have brought Flair over... would have led to clinics and great title matches with Bret, DiBiase, Hennig just for starters... and prevented the problems the company faced later.
Wrestlemania 7...
In short, Rick Rude is the one to take the title from the Ultimate Warrior at the rumble (he stays cos he knows this is happening) instead of Slaughter, Savage still interferes, leading to a feud with Warrior while Hogan battles Slaughter. In short we have ourselves a similar scenario to WM10 with multiple matches to determine who faces Rude in the main event. Thanks to Heenan's machinations, Hogan must face Slaughter while Savage and Warrior must face off - no retirement stip.
Jack Tunney steps in to "even up" the situation by not allowing Rude a "pass" - he decrees he has to wrestle Big Bossman in the opening match first.
So Our Mania 7 card (which ended up with 14 matches anyway) goes something like.
Dark Match
Power & Glory defeat The Bushwhackers
Opening Match
Rude vs Bossman - Heenan helps Rude escape with the title but is caught and given "Hard Time" after the match. He is stretchered out and is now out of the final match, much to Rude's chagrin.
Jake v Rick Martel -still happens as it did in a Blindfold match
Texas Tornado & The Rockers vs Barbarian, Haku & Dino Bravo - now without Heenan
The Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage - Savage upsets Warrior when The Undertaker interferes and puts him into a Body Bag.
The Hart Foundation vs The Nasty Boys - Bret isn't getting the IC as soon here, so he and Jim retain the tag titles a little longer. They'll lose them to the Rockers at Summerslam.
Hulk Hogan vs Sgt Slaughter - Hogan prevails but General Adnan gives Slaughter a fireball and Hogan is also taken to the ER.
The Undertaker defeats Jimmy Snuka
Davey Boy Smith defeats Mr. Perfect for the IC title as Heenan is not present to help him.
Virgil beats Ted DiBiase as happened
The Mountie defeats Tito Santana
The Legion Of Doom defeat Demolition
Main Event
Randy Savage vs Rick Rude
Originally scheduled to be a triple threat match, with Hogan's injury this becomes a Heel vs Heel main event. Strangely the odds still seem stacked against Rude as Heenan is unable to return and his stable has splintered throughout the night as a result. Savage has the upper hand until Sherri shockingly turns on him by nailing him with her spiked stilletto and kissing Rude! Rude scores the pinfall and begins to rough up Savage with Sherri until Elizabeth returns... She sees off Sherri and Rude is quick to "ditch her" and start to walk to the back...
As Savage and Liz reunite and Rude skulks to the back - Jack Tunney appears onscreen from the back with Mean Gene... telling Rude his night is not done yet and he needs to return to the ring or be stripped of the title...
By the time we cut back, Randy and Liz have left and Rude is alone in the ring... Cue some unusual music...and a WOOOOO!
Ric Flair walks out accompanied by... BOBBY HEENAN!
The match goes about 10 minutes, showcasing Flair's best and ends with Rude submitting to the Figure Four leglock. New WWF Champion - RIC FLAIR!
SO... a Mania where Hogan and Warrior are not the main event, where Rude is built up to lose? and Flair didn't sign till August right?
It was clear Ric was coming to the end of his deal, and I always felt that had Vince truly felt he had a shot at getting him over there at that time, Rude would have stayed.
This booking sees Rude not quite turn face, but staying around to feud with Flair, much as Bret ended up doing two years later.
Why would it have changed the WWF?
Rude was a perfect guy to help build the smaller champion/main event push at that time. He and Flair, he and Savage, he and Bret Hart, Perfect, Davey Boy and perhaps eventually even Sting would have been exciting matches in the WWF... Not all would be for the title, but Rude having that run, being booked strong rather than the debacle that started with his loss at Summerslam through to Flair's win in 92 at The Rumble damaged the WWF more than the roid scandal did at that time.
Hogan and Warrior are still in the mix, but at 7 they had a golden opportunity to spend some money, get Flair in and shift the focus away from them... had they done so, many of the guys who got over still would have - but it's conceivable that a Curt Hennig or Davey Boy could have been World Champions in that era legit. There would also have been a Four Horsemen... Flair would have had Bossman as his "Enforcer", Davey and Bret Hart most likely as the other two. That stable would have been great for Hogan AND Warrior to feud with.
Having Rude on your roster through to around 94 or even longer, would have helped guys like Bret, Owen, Hennig, Jake, Kerry all develop in the ring and just think what it could have done for Shawn Michaels!!!!
To me it's still the biggest mistake Vince ever made, letting Rude walk.. he literally was the best heel in the business at the time for WCW and played vital roles in bringing on Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Steve Austin, Brian Pillman and in building WCW to the point they could GET a Hogan or Savage... him as champ in 90-91 would have brought Flair over... would have led to clinics and great title matches with Bret, DiBiase, Hennig just for starters... and prevented the problems the company faced later.
relentless1
G.O.A.T.
The Alliance wasn't really that missed because they did what they could with what they had...they were never going to have the huge stars that they needed to make it work.
Without a doubt the biggest missed opportunity was the nWo vs the WWF
- nWo debuts at royal rumble beating up Flair after his win against McMahon
- nWo spends the next couple of RAWs jumping main eventers like Rock Austin and Taker
- Rock Austin and Taker challenge nWo to a match at No Way Out
- nWo wins the match via interference from Vince
- Vince and the nWo are allies; Vince has brought them in to take out Flair and anybody loyal to him
- Rock challenges Hogan to a match at Wrestlemaina, Hogan accepts
- the Outsiders go on the hunt for the Tag Titles; they jump every tag team they can
- the brothers of destruction win the tag titles 2 RAWs before wrestlemaina
- Flair doesnt want to let Hall and Nash have the title shot at Wrestlemania but Taker and Kane insist that he let them
- At Wrestlemaina the Outsiders beat bros for the tag titles with help from new nWo member Xpac; Hogan loses to Rock but shakes his hand afterwards
- HHH wins the Undisputed title from the Austin
- next night on RAW, Outsiders attack Rock in the back, Hogan stops them; HHH challenges Hogan to a match instead of his rematch with Rock says he's not afraid of the nWo
- Outsiders jump hogan during the match and reveal HHH as the new leader of the nWo!
- Big Show and Curt Hennig join the nWo leading up to Backlash
- at Backlash HHH and Nash face Rock and Hogan, nWo puts Rock out of commission and win the match. Rock isn't seen for a cpl months afterwards
- Vince is happy to see what the nWo have done to Flair and his side of the company, board of directors have had enough and declare RAW to be Vinces show and Smackdown to be Flairs so they can keep this chaos from happening
- at the inaugural draft Vince gets the nWo as his first draft pick
- nWo feuds with Austin, Booker T, RVD, Hogan, Kane, Bradshaw, the Dudleys for the remainder of the spring
- HHH and the Outsiders hold onto the belts through this time
- newest member HBK appears during a Austin HHH world title match and costs Austin his shot
- Vince doesnt like HBK being apart of the nWo as he's too hard to control, he mentions the Kliq onscreen and doesnt want it to be like the mid 90s again with those guys running the show again
- things come to a head between Vince and the nWo in July and Vince is losing control over the nWo; they are showing up on SmackDown now as well and beating up guys there too
- Vince thinks this is all going too far and has the group in the ring with a contract to disband them when out of nowhere Eric Bischoff comes out onto the stage!
- Eric says that he has used his vast network of connections to perform a hostile takeover of the board of directors; Vince is out and now Eric is the chairman of the board!
- now not only do Eric and the nWo run roughshod over RAW, they invade SmackDown and take Flair out!! now the nWo is basically in control of the whole company with nobody to stop them.....
Without a doubt the biggest missed opportunity was the nWo vs the WWF
- nWo debuts at royal rumble beating up Flair after his win against McMahon
- nWo spends the next couple of RAWs jumping main eventers like Rock Austin and Taker
- Rock Austin and Taker challenge nWo to a match at No Way Out
- nWo wins the match via interference from Vince
- Vince and the nWo are allies; Vince has brought them in to take out Flair and anybody loyal to him
- Rock challenges Hogan to a match at Wrestlemaina, Hogan accepts
- the Outsiders go on the hunt for the Tag Titles; they jump every tag team they can
- the brothers of destruction win the tag titles 2 RAWs before wrestlemaina
- Flair doesnt want to let Hall and Nash have the title shot at Wrestlemania but Taker and Kane insist that he let them
- At Wrestlemaina the Outsiders beat bros for the tag titles with help from new nWo member Xpac; Hogan loses to Rock but shakes his hand afterwards
- HHH wins the Undisputed title from the Austin
- next night on RAW, Outsiders attack Rock in the back, Hogan stops them; HHH challenges Hogan to a match instead of his rematch with Rock says he's not afraid of the nWo
- Outsiders jump hogan during the match and reveal HHH as the new leader of the nWo!
- Big Show and Curt Hennig join the nWo leading up to Backlash
- at Backlash HHH and Nash face Rock and Hogan, nWo puts Rock out of commission and win the match. Rock isn't seen for a cpl months afterwards
- Vince is happy to see what the nWo have done to Flair and his side of the company, board of directors have had enough and declare RAW to be Vinces show and Smackdown to be Flairs so they can keep this chaos from happening
- at the inaugural draft Vince gets the nWo as his first draft pick
- nWo feuds with Austin, Booker T, RVD, Hogan, Kane, Bradshaw, the Dudleys for the remainder of the spring
- HHH and the Outsiders hold onto the belts through this time
- newest member HBK appears during a Austin HHH world title match and costs Austin his shot
- Vince doesnt like HBK being apart of the nWo as he's too hard to control, he mentions the Kliq onscreen and doesnt want it to be like the mid 90s again with those guys running the show again
- things come to a head between Vince and the nWo in July and Vince is losing control over the nWo; they are showing up on SmackDown now as well and beating up guys there too
- Vince thinks this is all going too far and has the group in the ring with a contract to disband them when out of nowhere Eric Bischoff comes out onto the stage!
- Eric says that he has used his vast network of connections to perform a hostile takeover of the board of directors; Vince is out and now Eric is the chairman of the board!
- now not only do Eric and the nWo run roughshod over RAW, they invade SmackDown and take Flair out!! now the nWo is basically in control of the whole company with nobody to stop them.....
There should be no other option than the Invasion...I goofed and voted Goldberg's run before I saw it, but Goldberg's run should've been incorporated within it.
The timing of the contracts was a major issue...the WCW guys wanted to sit at home n get paid instead of work. Vince should've paid them on top of those contracts or did something to entice them. They all came over gradually at different times (Flair, Booker & DDP, then NWO, then Bischoff, then Steiner, then Goldberg, etc) but it would've been amazing had it happened all at once...a real Invasion.
And, we 100% no matter what should've gotten Austin vs Goldberg. This was a travesty and pretty devastating to a lot of fans. Especially when they were interacting the way they were in 2004...it could've been the epic dream match everyone wanted to see.
Such a shame. If only Vince and the company really cared as much as the fans..
The timing of the contracts was a major issue...the WCW guys wanted to sit at home n get paid instead of work. Vince should've paid them on top of those contracts or did something to entice them. They all came over gradually at different times (Flair, Booker & DDP, then NWO, then Bischoff, then Steiner, then Goldberg, etc) but it would've been amazing had it happened all at once...a real Invasion.
And, we 100% no matter what should've gotten Austin vs Goldberg. This was a travesty and pretty devastating to a lot of fans. Especially when they were interacting the way they were in 2004...it could've been the epic dream match everyone wanted to see.
Such a shame. If only Vince and the company really cared as much as the fans..
d_henderson1810
Mid-Card Championship Winner
Firstly, like you said, many of the WCW top brass were sitting at home on WCW contracts (I though contracts become null and void when a company folds), so if they waited until people like Goldberg got off their butt to show up, it would have been two or three years later, and by then, they have had WCW talent sitting on ice, and they probably couldn't do an invasion at all. I mean, Sting only joined last year, and he would have to be in any proper Invasion angle. It just wasn't feasible to get everyone they wanted, when they wanted.
As for Goldberg v Austin, Austin was on his way out, as Goldberg was on his way in.
Goldberg debuted the night after WMXIX. Austin retired the previous day at WM. His neck was stuffed, so if they ever did Austin v Goldberg, it would have to be at WMXIX itself, and I guess Austin worried about his neck and wanted to wrestle the Rock, who had always looked after him in that regard in the past, whereas Goldberg's style means that Austin would have to bump a bit, and maybe injure himself more.
I chose other
Simply put I would change how Royal Rumble 2016 started.
Roman comes out at 1 with his WWE title and at 2...?
Demon Finn Balor
Why?
The demon gets the benefit of a full entrance at number 2 versus entering later. He was still NXT champion at the time. With the Rumble crowd people knew who he was (see AJ Styles).
Having the WWE and NXT champions in the ring at the same time would have been a moment. Throw in AJ at number 3 and that crowd would have lost their minds. Bullet Club at the Rumble long before Gallows and Anderson were even in the conversation...
That would have been sweet...
Simply put I would change how Royal Rumble 2016 started.
Roman comes out at 1 with his WWE title and at 2...?
Demon Finn Balor
Why?
The demon gets the benefit of a full entrance at number 2 versus entering later. He was still NXT champion at the time. With the Rumble crowd people knew who he was (see AJ Styles).
Having the WWE and NXT champions in the ring at the same time would have been a moment. Throw in AJ at number 3 and that crowd would have lost their minds. Bullet Club at the Rumble long before Gallows and Anderson were even in the conversation...
That would have been sweet...
Makaveli31
Championship Contender
Why is this limited to just WWE?
The obvious answer is Verne Gagne FAILING to have Hulk Hogan (after Rocky 3) beat Nick Bockwinkle for the title and build the AWA around him. Gagne had the goose who laid the golden eggs firmly in his grasp. He didn't even have to market Hogan, Rocky III did that. All Verne had to do sit back, send Hogan around the country and collect the checks. He had Hogan and he had ESPN plsu he was running shows in the midwest and west coast. But Verne wanted a percentage of Hogan's checks so Hogan went to NY and the rest is history.
The obvious answer is Verne Gagne FAILING to have Hulk Hogan (after Rocky 3) beat Nick Bockwinkle for the title and build the AWA around him. Gagne had the goose who laid the golden eggs firmly in his grasp. He didn't even have to market Hogan, Rocky III did that. All Verne had to do sit back, send Hogan around the country and collect the checks. He had Hogan and he had ESPN plsu he was running shows in the midwest and west coast. But Verne wanted a percentage of Hogan's checks so Hogan went to NY and the rest is history.
The WCW guys were under contract from another company...I forget the explanation of it, but their contracts were still good.
Regarding the timing...I know, and that's why I mentioned it. What I'm saying is that Vince should've offered them all money on top of what they were getting paid by the other company since he wasn't paying them. That's the difference.
Sting didn't come over because of the way they treated the first guys coming in like Booker T. Had Vince put ego aside and went to work for the fans to give them what they wanted, everyone could've been happy. But I suppose he wasn't up for it and needed the time to get over things.
Had they done that, then Austin vs Goldberg could've happened at Mania 18. Even if they didn't, and making that issue separate from the Invasion, many here have talked about how they should've had Goldberg vs Austin at Mania 19. Austin only had an issue (although a really significant one) the night before Mania where he went to the hospital. He was fine before that however. Had they brought in Bill a couple months beforehand, they could've built it.
The NWO was by far the biggest missed opportunity. Are there others on the list that were missed? Absolutely. But outside Verne Gagne failing to capitalize on the popularity of Hulk Hogan post-Rocky III, none of the others might have prevented an entire company from folding.
WCW became a power with the NWO, but they had no out. Further, they had no direction to take the company without the NWO. Enter Bret Hart - the hottest name in professional wrestling when he debuted in December 1997. Fresh off the Montreal Screwjob, WCW couldn't capitalize directly by pitting Hart against Michaels or Hart again McMahon, but they could capitalize by pitting Hart against Michaels' best friends - Nash, Hall, Waltman.
That's how the NWO should've ended, with an enraged Bret Hart seeking vengeance against Shawn Michaels by taking out his buddies one-by-one until he eventually took out Hogan and won the championship.
Think about it like this - The NWO was always billed with the subtext of being invaders from the WWF. No one had a bigger grudge against the WWF than Hart. He could've had a year-long program with the NWO, trying to rid WCW of it's WWF stench, which would've been compelling and made perfect sense. Additionally, having Bischoff as an evil boss would've added another layer since Hart clearly would've had an issue with all-powerful authority figures.
WCW became a power with the NWO, but they had no out. Further, they had no direction to take the company without the NWO. Enter Bret Hart - the hottest name in professional wrestling when he debuted in December 1997. Fresh off the Montreal Screwjob, WCW couldn't capitalize directly by pitting Hart against Michaels or Hart again McMahon, but they could capitalize by pitting Hart against Michaels' best friends - Nash, Hall, Waltman.
That's how the NWO should've ended, with an enraged Bret Hart seeking vengeance against Shawn Michaels by taking out his buddies one-by-one until he eventually took out Hogan and won the championship.
Think about it like this - The NWO was always billed with the subtext of being invaders from the WWF. No one had a bigger grudge against the WWF than Hart. He could've had a year-long program with the NWO, trying to rid WCW of it's WWF stench, which would've been compelling and made perfect sense. Additionally, having Bischoff as an evil boss would've added another layer since Hart clearly would've had an issue with all-powerful authority figures.
Invasion. Now, when we know all the truth, i think what WWF did, wasn't that bad in this situation. I will rather scrap everything after Invasion PPV, and pay some money to WCW stars sitting at home to work this very PPV, so every fan can see their WCW Stars vs WWF Stars matches and pay for it, and after this PPV, i will introduce some WCW guys as new WWF superstars (Booker T, DDP, RVD (not WCW, but still), Palumbo & O'Haire, Kidman, Helms, Storm & Awesome), who will work their way from the ground up. Of course WWF vs former WCW guys feuds will take place, but in a different form and Austin and Angle will never "jump ship" to WCW
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
Basically, the big guns contracts with Time/Warner itself rather than WCW the company. This was an accounting dodge back to the time of Ted Turner as WCW itself couldn't afford the mammoth salaries but Turner could. accounting and I think FCC rules prevented endless bankrolling into WCW, so they signed anyone on a "big" deal themselves and let WCW sign the lower earning talents.
When Fusient were going to buy it and had TV they had to do two deals, one for the company and TV and one for each talent on the bigger contracts. Some like Hogan they would go for, some they wouldn't but anyone contracted to WCW would have been part of the buyout, those deals could be bought out.
When the TV side fell apart and Fusient left, Vince bought WCW with those deals but not the AOL/Time Warner deals which still had a year to run as it was undecided how they were going to proceed. They could have bought out each deal but then In effect, even if he didn't want Savage after he got there, he'd have still had to pay. and to a man, they all knew that Vince would still be interested in that year or so's time... so it became paid vacation for them at 3 million or whatever a year.
Some guys like Page, took less and voluntarily gave up their deal for the opportunity. Others point blank refused and sat home by which time the invasion was dead.
Had Vince decided to keep WCW a seperate company, then many of those deals would have been brought out. But with 20+ talents already to assimilate into the WWE and a strong class of 2002 at OVW on the way, the risk was taken NOT to sign them or keep WCW alive. That Cena, Orton etc came through.
If you think back, how many of the Invasion guys actually "made it"? Basically only Booker and that took years. Everyone else either left before the buyout like Jericho, Eddie, Benoit or came in after their Warner deal was up like Rey. Having Hogan, Nash, Hall etc wouldn't have improved their odds.
I voted other. Basically, the entirety of Bret Hart's WCW run.
He was coming off the Montreal Screwjob. The first thing WCW does? Makes him a GUEST ENFORCER???
He should have come in and immediately challenged for the WCW Title. Even if he had to battle through the nWo until facing Hogan for the title. Instead, they ruined ANY momentum they had with Hart and his career went down fast and he was miserable there.
He was coming off the Montreal Screwjob. The first thing WCW does? Makes him a GUEST ENFORCER???
He should have come in and immediately challenged for the WCW Title. Even if he had to battle through the nWo until facing Hogan for the title. Instead, they ruined ANY momentum they had with Hart and his career went down fast and he was miserable there.
HatchetMan84
Pre-Show Stalwart
LOL i am the only guy who voted for Vader's WWF run. I only say that because of how big Vader was the world over. I don't think you will ever see another 450 pound man who can do a moonsault. He was also a gentle soul outside of wrestling and I am not sure if politics really kept him down. I am of the opinion that if you are talented, have charisma, and are "over" with the crowd, that you can't be held down. I think Vader should have had at least one world title run
BestSportsEntertainer
I Don't Need No User Title
The Invasion is by FAR the biggest missed opportunity in pro wrestling history. By the end of the Invasion, Team WCW consisted of JUST ONE WRESTLER WHO ACTUALLY WRESTLED FOR WCW - Booker T. The other members of the team were Rob Van Dam (who wrestled in ECW), Stone Cold and Kurt Angle (who wrestled in WWF), and Shane McMahon (who's NOT EVEN AN ACTUAL WRESTLER!!). How do you go from Hulk Hogan, Kevin ash, Scott Hall, Goldberg, Sting, and Ric Flair to just Booker T, an ECW guy, two WWF guys, and a non-wrestler?
It's mind-boggling, but everyone has a reason - the contracts. Well forget the contracts. Give these guys what they want. Whatever they want. Anything. Okay maybe not anything, but there is no reason to even attempt a WCW invasion and not include the n.W.o., Sting, Goldberg, or Flair.
Finally, don't make it about Vince vs. Shane and Stephanie. NO, NO, NO!!!!! Why would you do that? It's just awful. This is old, but it's STILL happening today. 15 years later. McMahon family conflicts were fun for a while, but they got old. Really old. Especially when we could've gotten Bischoff and Heyman instead.
Basically we could have gotten -
The Alliance - Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Flair, Booker, RVD - Heyman/Bischoff as co-owners
vs.
Team WWF - Austin, Rock, Taker, HHH, Jericho, Angle, Kane - Vince as the owner
THAT would have been the greatest angle of all time, not the mess we got.
NOTE - Sorry for the rant. I know a lot of what I mentioned probably couldn't have happened, but it's cool to fantasy book this stuff. And to think about what could have been. It's still a missed opportunity, as just about any final team for the Alliance would have been better than what we got.
It's mind-boggling, but everyone has a reason - the contracts. Well forget the contracts. Give these guys what they want. Whatever they want. Anything. Okay maybe not anything, but there is no reason to even attempt a WCW invasion and not include the n.W.o., Sting, Goldberg, or Flair.
Finally, don't make it about Vince vs. Shane and Stephanie. NO, NO, NO!!!!! Why would you do that? It's just awful. This is old, but it's STILL happening today. 15 years later. McMahon family conflicts were fun for a while, but they got old. Really old. Especially when we could've gotten Bischoff and Heyman instead.
Basically we could have gotten -
The Alliance - Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Flair, Booker, RVD - Heyman/Bischoff as co-owners
vs.
Team WWF - Austin, Rock, Taker, HHH, Jericho, Angle, Kane - Vince as the owner
THAT would have been the greatest angle of all time, not the mess we got.
NOTE - Sorry for the rant. I know a lot of what I mentioned probably couldn't have happened, but it's cool to fantasy book this stuff. And to think about what could have been. It's still a missed opportunity, as just about any final team for the Alliance would have been better than what we got.
Spencesc11
Getting Noticed By Management
Summer of Punk should've lead to Punk vs. The Rock at WrestleMania!!! Punk could've kept retaining including foiling Del Rio's cashin. Then after he defends the Title at Rumble vs. HHH and retains, The Rock wins the Rumble by throwing Cena out last. Rock vs. Punk at Mania and the following year Cena could've faced Rock in a match without the Title. Punk was the ultimate Rogue Hero at that time and a Main Event match at Mania vs. The Rock would've been great for him and he would probably still be on the roster had this happened.
The Invasion. You pay whatever it takes to get the big names to join and, presto, you're booked through to WM18 at the least as there's no way it wouldn't have been more equal with the names there.
WM18 card?
Steve Austin vs Goldberg
The Rock vs Hulk Hogan
Scott Steiner vs Triple H
Vince McMahon vs Eric Bischoff
Hall & Nash vs Undertaker & Kane
No idea how you'd get there but, to me, that should've been the real goal from when they bought WCW.
WM18 card?
Steve Austin vs Goldberg
The Rock vs Hulk Hogan
Scott Steiner vs Triple H
Vince McMahon vs Eric Bischoff
Hall & Nash vs Undertaker & Kane
No idea how you'd get there but, to me, that should've been the real goal from when they bought WCW.
reddevil69
Getting Noticed By Management
I'm enjoying the concept of re-booking past events. One that sticks out to me and is in my opinion one of the most glaring example of Vince McMahon being short sighted is Wrestlemania 11....what is considered the weakest Mania could have been saved by two angles which were both nixed by Vince. Randy Savage vs Shawn Michaels or Randy Savage vs. Bret Hart...one proposed by Savage himself, the other one being brought to Vince by Bret....Bret was champion during the summer of 1994 and told Vince that after he was done his angle with Owen that he wanted to work with Savage, and that he and Randy had come up with an angle while working together on the overseas tour that summer...Vince shot it down.
the other angle, Savage proposed an angle with HBK and had it laid out and Vince shot that down as well....so instead of having two possible classic angles through the fall of 1994, into the spring of 1995 and a match at Wrestlemania featuring either Bret or Shawn vs. Savage, instead we were treated to Bret in an angle with Bob Backlund that nobody wanted to see, including Bret, and HBK vs Diesel which was a step down from HBK's ladder match from the previous year...not to mention Bundy vs Undertaker and Bam Bam Bigelow vs Lawrence Taylor in the main event....a total lost opportunity to have either Bret or Michaels vs Savage...
either match would have saved the show and most likely have been looked back on as a classic match for us fans, and would most likely have led to Savage staying with WWF instead of leaving for WCW after he was told that he was better served staying behind the broadcast microphone and out of the ring as the company was having a youth movement....only to end up featuring Backlund who was older than Savage by four years in two high profile matches with Bret Hart.
the other angle, Savage proposed an angle with HBK and had it laid out and Vince shot that down as well....so instead of having two possible classic angles through the fall of 1994, into the spring of 1995 and a match at Wrestlemania featuring either Bret or Shawn vs. Savage, instead we were treated to Bret in an angle with Bob Backlund that nobody wanted to see, including Bret, and HBK vs Diesel which was a step down from HBK's ladder match from the previous year...not to mention Bundy vs Undertaker and Bam Bam Bigelow vs Lawrence Taylor in the main event....a total lost opportunity to have either Bret or Michaels vs Savage...
either match would have saved the show and most likely have been looked back on as a classic match for us fans, and would most likely have led to Savage staying with WWF instead of leaving for WCW after he was told that he was better served staying behind the broadcast microphone and out of the ring as the company was having a youth movement....only to end up featuring Backlund who was older than Savage by four years in two high profile matches with Bret Hart.
I would say The Invasion but the contract situation made it impossible to get all the top WCW guys to come over.
So I go with...
The Nexus
For The Nexus, I would have put them over at Summerslam. Darren Young still gets booted for being the weak link in the chain.
Night of Champions goes as it did, but Otunga accidentally costs Barrett the match.
Otunga gets booted from the group. Barrett goes over Cena at Hell in a Cell as he did.
Bragging Rights goes as planned.
Barrett wins the title at Survivor Series freeing Cena from Nexus. Cena lays him out, Miz cashes in and wins the title.
TLC Barrett vs Cena, winner gets title shot at Royal Rumble. Barrett goes over.
Royal Rumble. Barrett beats Randy Orton(who won title back at TLC) to become WWE Champion. John Cena wins Royal Rumble match.
Wade Barrett retains at Elimination Chamber.
Wrestlemania 27 goes basically as it did, except no double count out. Ref takes a bump, Rock uses her power as Host to make himself the ref, he screws Cena, Barrett wins with Wasteland.
Barrett drops the title to Cena at Extreme Rules. Loses at Over The Limit. Goes into feud with Randy Orton and Christian over World Title during the Summer of Punk.
I would do it this way because Barrett gets credibility as winning the title, gets a Wrestlemania main event on the most watched Mania of all time (at that time), and gets feuds with top talent for the better part of a year. He also could have joined Miz (rather than R-Truth) in the feud with HHH and Punk, which would have prevented him from slipping too far down the card after dropping the title so Cena/Punk/Del Rio could have their matches.
So I go with...
The Nexus
For The Nexus, I would have put them over at Summerslam. Darren Young still gets booted for being the weak link in the chain.
Night of Champions goes as it did, but Otunga accidentally costs Barrett the match.
Otunga gets booted from the group. Barrett goes over Cena at Hell in a Cell as he did.
Bragging Rights goes as planned.
Barrett wins the title at Survivor Series freeing Cena from Nexus. Cena lays him out, Miz cashes in and wins the title.
TLC Barrett vs Cena, winner gets title shot at Royal Rumble. Barrett goes over.
Royal Rumble. Barrett beats Randy Orton(who won title back at TLC) to become WWE Champion. John Cena wins Royal Rumble match.
Wade Barrett retains at Elimination Chamber.
Wrestlemania 27 goes basically as it did, except no double count out. Ref takes a bump, Rock uses her power as Host to make himself the ref, he screws Cena, Barrett wins with Wasteland.
Barrett drops the title to Cena at Extreme Rules. Loses at Over The Limit. Goes into feud with Randy Orton and Christian over World Title during the Summer of Punk.
I would do it this way because Barrett gets credibility as winning the title, gets a Wrestlemania main event on the most watched Mania of all time (at that time), and gets feuds with top talent for the better part of a year. He also could have joined Miz (rather than R-Truth) in the feud with HHH and Punk, which would have prevented him from slipping too far down the card after dropping the title so Cena/Punk/Del Rio could have their matches.
Did you just end Taker's streak 12 years early?