From the Feb 90 SNME... I realize Buster Douglas pissed in the punch bowl of WWE's plans by knocking out Mike Tyson, and his appearance was largely uninspiring. But let's say Tyson won as expected. Would his appearance have gone the same way, or were there any different or long term plans for him?
There were tons of crazy rumors at the time, but the Observer notes in the week where Tyson pulled out that WWF was talking to tons of different celebrities and boxers as the replacement ref (George Foreman, a couple of football players, etc) and the finish would always be Savage getting knocked out by the boxer and pinned by Hogan. The context was basically that Tyson was doing the same thing and the goal was never getting Tyson over, but getting Hogan v. Warrior over.