Wondering what feuds and/or matches you think would've been really fun if circumstances were just slightly different.
Say Austin had one more year left, maybe we get that run vs Lesnar. Foley makes it to 2001 and perhaps some matches with anyone in the Radicalz or Kurt Angle.
Any fun ones jump out for you guys?
I feel like Austin v Goldberg might have done some business had Steve been around in 2003. Just a hunch.
Hogan vs. Austin in 2002
ReplyDeleteRock vs HBK. I'm inclined to make Rock the heel in that one.
ReplyDeleteBenoit vs. Daniel Bryan.
ReplyDeleteSad face.
Ricky Steamboat and Ron Garvin in 1989.
ReplyDeleteTugboat vs Skinner
ReplyDeleteAngle v CM Punk in a prolonged main event level feud over a belt would have been golden.
ReplyDeleteI dunno if Benoit would have wanted to do that match. I mean, the last time the WWE asked Benoit to wrestle an Indy darling he didn't take it too well.
ReplyDeleteRefresh my memory, I'm not sure I know who you mean.
ReplyDeleteI think though, that before Bryan even debuted in WWE he was widely regarded as the best young technical wrestler of the time. He was far from being an unknown or a scrub.
Typhoon beat Skinner at a house show in Memphis on March 5th, 1993.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=247&page=4&s=50
Wasn't Benoit supposed to wrestle Punk at the Vengeance PPV on that weekend of the murders? And wasn't Benoit upset that he, much like Angle, had been demoted to the ECW brand?
ReplyDeleteThe match between Chris Benoit and CM Punk for the vacant ECW Championship, that Benoit missed due to a family emergency.
ReplyDeleteThe Ultimate Warrior vs. Shawn Michaels in 1996
ReplyDeleteHogan vs. Bret Hart in 1993
ReplyDeleteAh that brief period where Typhoon was a face. 1993. So many memories. The Bills losing in the Super Bowl again. A young Rob Bartlett taught us how to laugh.
ReplyDeleteOh shit, I didn't see the joke! Goddammit!
ReplyDeleteYeah, he didn't take that well. Not well at all.
Rock/HBK is the obvious one, but here are some others.
ReplyDeleteBret vs. Angle
Brock vs. Batista
Shawn vs. Eddie
Edge vs. Daniel Bryan (they had a match before Bryan mattered, but I mean a real feud, with Edge as the heel)
Edge vs. CM Punk, for that matter
Jake Roberts vs. Mick Foley
Jericho vs. Lesnar
HBK vs. Lesnar would be epic, and for a second last year I thought we were going to get it.
And my #1... Rick Rude vs. Mr. Perfect
Why couldn't we have gotten THAT as a Velocity tryout match?
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was the joke.
ReplyDeleteChris: "Vince wants me to wrestle that CM Punk kid, damn it!"
Nancy: "oh I like that CM Punk"
Daniel: "you're wrestling Punk dad? That's great, CM Punk is awesome"
Nancy: "honey, why is your eye twitching?"
And I took the joke too far, didn't I?
Brock vs Evolution. Brock brings in Angle/Benjamin/Haas for backup. Wargames yo.
ReplyDeleteBenoit vs Purgatory
ReplyDeleteI advocate anything with heel rock.
ReplyDeleteRock vs Eddie would have been alot of fun
ReplyDeleteThey did it, but it was a promo and match in the same night thing. Eddie cut an awesome psycho promo about his daughters having a Rock poster. Match is on youtube but the promo isn't anymore.
ReplyDeleteI thought they did do something where Rock sang his own version of La Bamba to piss Eddie off...
ReplyDelete(puts on cynical as a motherfucker hat)
ReplyDeleteRock and Roll Express vs. DOOM, JCP days.
You know Ricky and Robert would be beyond superfaces in that particular climate.
Wow, I didnt know they ever really interacted. Gotta youtube it tomorrow
ReplyDeleteThat promo was SOOOOOOO Awesome.. On the ramp, yelling at his invisible daughter, "SHUUUUUUUUT UP~!"
ReplyDeleteDamnit, I need to see this somehow
ReplyDeleteChris: If anyone needs me I'll be hanging out in the gym.
ReplyDeleteI know the time periods aernt close but i want The old 3 I's gold metal Kurt Angle vs a CM punk feud. I dont care if Kurts a ticking time bomb, make this happen Vince.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the obsession for every feud to end in War Games?
ReplyDeleteMost Over Rated Gimmick Of All Time.
ReplyDeleteHeel Rock vs Heel HBK. 100% ad-libbed.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like how that that WMXX match is kind of folklore now.
ReplyDeleteMost importantly, it has THE ROCK VS. FLAIR. But on top of that, it's the return of Rock n' Sock and it features Batista and Orton who went on to become A list main eventers.
Chavo sent a text and I kept it vague
ReplyDeleteNothing was goin' on at my place
I swear to God, my wife just fell
My throat was crushed by my own dumbbells
Word.
I been to Edmonton and I've seen Quebec
ReplyDeleteCame back to wrestle after breaking my neck
But when you take too many shots to the head
You wake up one day and everyone's dead
Dudley Boys vs. Road Warriors
ReplyDeleteRVD vs. Shawn Michaels (when both were healthy & motivated)
Macho Man vs. Rick Rude. That program would have wrote itself.
ReplyDeleteJake Roberts earned hate-for-life type heat for going after Miss Elizabeth. Rick Rude trying to woo her by out-macho-ing the Macho Man probably would have made him the big star that I feel he JUST missed out on being. At the very least, that would have been a great WM feud.
ReplyDeleteThe match itself is ok, I love the nut-punching spot more than the Flair elbow, but some of the fun was taken out of it for me by knowing that no way in HELL would Evolution lose that one. Not as fun when it's obvious, you know?
ReplyDeleteIt used to be the guarantee that you would see a bloody massacre. I know they ruined it in WCW, but it's easier to remember the glory (gory) days. Given the PG era now, it's no surprise that people hold that gimmick up as the pinnacle of what's missing in wrestling.
ReplyDeleteokay some of you just listed dream matches...
ReplyDeleteHell yes. I think this one belongs toward the top of the list. Rude sleazing his way after Liz would have been tremendous. They could have milked a year worth of program out of that. Imagine the heat... Macho just won a hard fought match that SEEMS like the blow-off, but Rude gives Liz a kiss and a Rude Awakening to put her in the hospital and neck brace for months. Macho vows revenge and we get a cage match.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think a more built-up Rock vs. Flair and Austin vs. Flair would have been great. I really think Austin should have been Flair's first major opponent after Ric's WWE return. Austin-Flair at WM18 alongside the other legend match (Rock-Hogan) would have worked for me
ReplyDeleteIf Eddie could have stayed healthy and prosperous, there were SO many great feuds still to be explored.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be a great way to end stable feuds, but WWE doesn't really emphasize stables much anymore, nor do they do bloody ends to feuds either. It was perfect for the Horsemen days in NWA/WCW, but there have been just as many terrible WarGames matches as good ones. There have been lots of times I thought it would be great in WWE ever since the WCW purchase, but it just isn't happening. It would have made sense during WWF-WCW invasion feud, as well as some of Evolution's feuds. Oh well
ReplyDeleteAgree on Edge-Punk. Those guys could have done several PPVs together, if WWE let them more or less script their own feud and do a bloody retro-NWA progression of violent matches
ReplyDeleteI think after the initial nostalgia matches, they should have sacrificed Warrior to Vader and sent him on his merry way....but Shawn nixed dropping the belt to Vader anyway, so the true monster push wasn't coming
ReplyDeleteClassic.
ReplyDeleteIf we're talking about near misses that actually could have reasonably happened:
ReplyDeleteWWF/E:
Austin vs. Hogan (SummerSlam '02 or Wrestlemania 19)
Austin vs. Goldberg (2003)
Austin vs. Lesnar (2002 or Wrestlemania 19)
HBK vs. Rock (2003)
Lesnar vs. Batista (2003-04)
Rude vs. Savage (80s OR 91)
LOD vs. Demolition (WM 7 blow-off)
Rock vs. Guerrero (2003-04)
Austin vs. Shamrock (1999)
ECW:
Awesome vs. RVD (1999-2000, ECW)
Taz vs. RVD (1999, Taz' departure, ECW title)
WCW:
Goldberg vs. Awesome (2000, Awesome's PPV debut)
Sting vs. Hogan (1995, face vs. face)
Sting vs. Savage (1995, face vs face)
Hogan/Savage vs. Sting/Luger (Halloween Havoc '95)
I wish Vince had been able to get Nikita Koloff to leave JCP, because Hogan/Koloff would have been worlds better than what we ended up getting at WM2, with all due respect to King Kong Bundy.
ReplyDeleteThere's also Flair calling Rock a "motherfucker," which is always great.
ReplyDeleteAngle v CM Punk could technically still happen.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved if it were "self-absorbed, douchebag show-off" RVD in that feud. They had a match on Raw in 2002 that was pretty good, and I think a real feud could have been even better.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C14duLnpkuo
Comedy = Tragedy + Time. It's been six years. So I think we're all good, sir!
ReplyDeletedunno that punk wants to work with a train wreck like angle?
ReplyDeleteRob Van Dam vs. Mike Awesome that we missed out on by a month in 2000.
ReplyDeleteCM Punk vs. Chris Benoit that we missed out on by...a day in 2007.
Come to think of it, why DIDN'T they pull the trigger on LOD vs. Demolition at Wrestlemania VII, and have Power and Glory do the job to Tenryu and Kitao? The only things I can think of are that Tenryu and Kitao wouldn't have come to the U.S. for a lower-level opponent like P&G, or that both of those matches would have needed to be longer than the match times for the matches they had (namely, the LOD 30-second squash of P&G).
ReplyDeleteFor my money - the best match that really almost and should have happened was Goldberg - Jericho in late 98'. Jericho called him out and dissed him hard for like 2 months and then no pay off. They could have made Jericho a huge heel ala Shawn Michaels and had new superstar.
ReplyDeleteOwen Hart vs. Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko.
ReplyDeleteDammit.
Considering what we know about Savage's..,. "protectiveness"... towards Liz, that may not be the best idea.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it could turn even more awesome.
Good list, HBK vs. Hollywood Rock would have been ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteWe did get Austin vs. Flair on Raw in 2002and it was awesome. I'm still pissed at Scott's 3 1/2 star rating. I go 4 and 1/4 at least. This was Austin's last ever Raw match.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to piggyback off this Hart vs. Savage in 93'.
ReplyDeleteYea, wtf was with vince not giving us demolition vs lod at wm7? Im assuming they didnt want to work together?
ReplyDeleteYea. The thing that struck me after rewatching it the other day was that the fucking star power is insane. At the tine, having Rock, Flair, and Foley all in the ring together was huge, but knowing how Ortons and Batistas careers turned out just makes it even more epic
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree. Id give anything to see the dorky "3 I's, I won the gold medal with a broken freaking neck" Kurt Angle vs the current CM Punk.
ReplyDeleteAn Owen Hart tag team with 2000-era Kurt Angle.
ReplyDeleteYea, anything Austin could have done would have been better then Austin/Hall.
ReplyDeleteJericho's book indicates that either Hogan, Hall or Nash had been getting in Goldberg's ear to kill that feud, telling him that Jericho was doing "comedy" that wouldn't get over. Such bullshit. As you say, they could have either made Jericho a star by letting him hang in a match or they still could have elevated him by having him be squashed on PPV in a prominent spot on the card.
ReplyDeleteGood post. I never knew that. Was curious to why that feud never came to fruition bc it seemed like thats where they were heading.
ReplyDeletePunk ripping into Angle for his rehab past would make for some intense promos.
ReplyDeleteBabyface HHH versus heel Stone Cold was apparently going to happen in 2001 before the quad tear put an end to it. Would've been interesting to see.
ReplyDeleteHappened at Bash 90 and it was pretty damn great for late era RNR.
ReplyDeleteI think they let Jericho hang during a match than destroy Goldberg after the match with a chair. Then maybe let Goldberg destroy him a cage match. Both guys look great. Get the DeLorean.
ReplyDeleteRude/Savage was a top feud in Memphis in '84... http://youtu.be/pesGr8UHr3w
ReplyDeleteWould have definitely been big money in WWF circa '91.
I've read that Eddie - HBK was the plan for Mania before Eddie passed.
ReplyDeleteShawn was still in his post-comeback prime at this point and Eddie had reached his peak as a character. I think this would have been EPIC.
Shawn wound up fighting Vince on the card - a match I never cared for and another reason I wish HBK - Eddie had gone down.
has to be Tugboat specifically. he was a joke once he became Typhoon but before that easily one of the top 3 guys in the company.
ReplyDeleteEddie did a swank arm drag counter out of the rock bottom if I recall correctly. Decent tv match.
ReplyDeleteYea, I remember reading that also. HBK vs Eddie would have been phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteSo, how much do you weigh?
ReplyDeleteAustin v Hogan
ReplyDeleteAusin v Goldberg
Austin v Brock
- Just a slew of missed opportunities with Austin in the 2002 - 2003 time period. I really wished Austin and the WWE were on better terms at that time because they really could have gotten a couple of hugh matches out of him before he had to hang up his boots.
HBK/Guerrero - they were simply on different brands and HBK was still in the process of getting his Mojo back.
HBK/Rock
HBK v CM Punk
HBK v Bryan - I'm actually shocked that HBK didn't hang out a little longer so that he could put easily his top student over on his way out.
Rude/Savage - 90/91 - Their Memphis stuff is great but Rude was still green and Savage was in full Memphis Mode before they learned how to work the WWF "Big Match Style". Rude chasing Liz would of been HUGE!!
I doubt it would be such a huge issue the first time Randy brings it up in the back and Rude beats the piss out of him.
ReplyDeleteCan't upvote this enough.
ReplyDeleteAnother great one. I could see this becoming the greatest all around feud of all time with the workrate and mic skills between these two.
ReplyDeleteCan we get a redo on Goldberg/Lesnar. I think that could have been cool.
ReplyDeleteYou spelled Iron Man match wrong.
ReplyDeleteSee, i'm much happier with the train-wreck we got.
ReplyDeleteCan we just get a redo of Goldberg's WWE run.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about you guys but I have always wanted to see a triple threat match between the Modern Day Warrior, the Ultimate Warrior, and The Instant Warrior
ReplyDelete1992 Bret vs Rude, missed it by about a year/18 months, but easily four to five snowflakes.
ReplyDeleteWho would have booed Austin? Always thought that was a stupid idea.
ReplyDeleteHeel Rock would've ended up face Rock.
ReplyDeleteOwen vs. Shawn. They even seemed to be setting it up after Montreal, but... well, we all know what happened.
ReplyDeleteIntense until Angle snapped and beat the crap out of Punk on live TV.
ReplyDeleteIt did happen, and it was actually Shawn's last Raw match until the big comeback. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAWT8eQyrUU
ReplyDeleteIt would work, in theory, but would he be willing to put up with HHH after last time?
ReplyDeleteOh, they had a damn near ***** match at the Feb 1997 PPV. I was talking about a full drawn-out program.
ReplyDeleteThe Raw match I linked to is actually almost ppv quality.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure, just don't have time to watch it right this minute.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem with getting a "full drawn program" with Shawn and Owen is that there just wasent time.
ReplyDeleteI mean the ONLY time they had for it really was december, and while they did touch into it, it just didnt get there. Shamrock against Michaels at INY:DX was a mistake and it should have been Owen
And after that we get to the final blow-off with Taker, then WM14 against Austin
Austin vs. Hogan SHOULD have happened.
ReplyDeleteJudgement Day 2002, would have been their best chance, but Austin was thrown into that stupid handicap match with Big Show and Flair, while Hogan was against Taker.
Although for this to have worked Hogan probably shouldn't have been a face of course
Now that we are talking JCP, how about a proper Steiners/LOD match.
ReplyDeleteNot the 7 minute rushed bullshit we got at Starrcade 89
Yea that RNR "match formula" still worked well in the early 90's surprisingly.
ReplyDeleteThe match is on the "Most Electifying" Rock DVD. The promo.....try YouTube.
ReplyDeleteWhat Punk wants to do mostly is make money and retire rich. If he thought he could make money with Kurt and that would allow him to not have to be in some asinine storyline involving the rest of the roster, I think he'd do it. Kurt has one more good run left in him.
ReplyDeleteDamn.. These two are the best..
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21_27wHwET4
I think it would still work now with an updated image. Of course we'd get the Dubstep Express with Kofi and Evan Bourne....
ReplyDeleteThat would tear down the Greensboro Coliseum, esp with an undercard featuring perhaps Sgt. Slaughter vs Nikita Koloff rather than sitting through Sarge with Volkoff.
ReplyDeleteThey wrestled dozens of times, through the fall of 1990, including Survivor Series.
ReplyDeleteThat could and maybe should have headlined WM9. Have Yokozuna beat Hart at King of the Ring for the belt.
ReplyDeletePlenty of people would. I think people exaggerate how much face heat Austin got as a heel. His music usually got a pop, but he got booed as a heel plenty of times, especially against Angle. As I recall, Trips generally got more positive reactions than Austin during the Power Trip days, since HHH's character at the time was being portrayed as being more badass whereas Austin's character was more underhanded and cowardly. Even though HHH's babyface character isn't believable or sympathetic at all, I could definitely see him being cheered against heel Austin back then.
ReplyDeleteAngle's pretty good on the mic, but he's not on the same level as Punk. I've always considered him on the Edge/HHH/HBK tier as far as speaking ability goes.
ReplyDeleteRude chasing Liz would have left him dead about 10 years earlier. :)
ReplyDeleteMost Over Rated Gimmick Of Iron Man.
ReplyDeleteSo much GOLD.
ReplyDeleteEdge & Christian vs. Angle & Owen? The skits, promos, and matches would have been classic
Really should have happened. The Orients didn't need to be on the show and Power & Glory could have faced the Rockers (instead of Powers of Pain)
ReplyDeleteYeah maybe so. I really think LOD finishing the Demos off for good would have been fitting at WM, before going after the tag belts at SummerSlam
ReplyDeleteI heard Savage and Rude got along.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed natural for Austin-Hogan to happen at SummerSlam in NY, after the reception Rock-Hogan got at WM18. Austin was gone by then anyway, so it wasn't going to happen. At the time, I thought they would go with Austin vs. Hogan at Wrestlemania 19 (to follow up the WM18 Icon vs. Icon thing).
ReplyDeleteWM19:
Angle-Lesnar
Hogan-Austin
Rock-HBK
Man, a PPV math at that December PPV between HBK and Owen could have been an off-the-charts hot match
ReplyDeleteI think they should have done it at SummerSlam '03. Goldberg could have been Bischoff's Raw representative challenging SmackDown's champion for the big co-PPV. When Lesnar retains, Goldberg returns to Raw to chase HHH's belt
ReplyDeleteRude giving Liz a Rude Awakening and kissing her unconscious corpse would have been the greatest heel moment of all time and the eventual Macho Man beating would have been the most satisfying blow-off in wrestling history.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. If "Mr. Monday Night" had declared himself "Mr. Wrestlemania" and done the cocky douchebag gimmick against a returning HBK
ReplyDeleteI bet. Especially with Doom being the convincing ass-kickers with someone to bump around for them
ReplyDeleteThat could have been fun. Brock fighting through his OVW classmates, Orton and Batista, en route to HHH. There is a LOT of "what if" in reference to Brock, had he stayed around beyond '04.
ReplyDeleteGreat pick. That should have absolutely been the WM9 title match. Let Yoko vs. Hulk be a special attraction, like the Hulk-Sid thing the year before
ReplyDeleteYes. And I would have to assume that Punk respects Angle's talent and history
ReplyDeleteExactly. Just let them both be at their snarkiest, heelish best. They would have both been cheered relentlessly, but have them both in full prima donna mode
ReplyDeleteThat's...better?
ReplyDeleteYeah, but they never really blew off the feud. Their part of Survivor Series '90 ended with all of them being DQ'd, which is a perfect setup for a bigger blowoff down the line. But that never happened, possibly because logic would dictate LOD going over and Vince didn't want to put the imported guys over his homegrown team.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Orients weren't on the show at WM7 (except possibly in a dark match). Tag matches at WM7 were Rockers-Faces of Fear, Harts-Nasties, LOD-Power and Glory, and Demolion-Tenryu/Kitao.
Which kinda shoots down your "Vince didn't want to job the Demos to the imported guys" theory. He didn't want the Demos to lose to LOD, but he had no problem jobbing them to two Japanese guys the fans wouldn't know if they ran into them at Benihana's after the show?
ReplyDeleteVery different, because the LOD and Demo gimmicks were so similar. Having them job to Tenryu and Kitao in some sort of nod to the Japanese community in LA (or whatever convoluted reasoning brought Tenryu and Kitao over in the first place) is very different than having Vince's version of a gimmick job to the version that was developed in the NWA.
ReplyDeleteShawn's back injury killed a program that he wasn't willing to really do anyway, either because he was afraid Owen would shoot on him (which doesn't sound like something Owen would do, then again if someone fucked over my brother I'd do things I normally wouldn't do either), or just as a nice little "fuck you" to Bret.
ReplyDeleteFuck, I wish Owen would just gone to WCW with the rest of them. Though not as much as Martha does, I'm sure.
It felt like they were leading towards Eddie Guerrero vs Shawn Michaels before Eddie died. Those matches would have been epic.
ReplyDelete