What if the Monday Night Wars Never Ended?

[Onyx]

I've been seeing so many posts referencing the Attitude Era lately, and it got me thinking. As most of us know, the Attitude Era lasted from 1997 until 2001 - the year that the Monday Night Wars came to an end with the WWE as the winner.

My question to you is what would have happened if the Monday Night Wars never ended? If neither WCW or the WWE went out of business, WCW kept their shit together and remained a viable threat to the WWE, and the competition was just as heated today as it was in the mid-90s?

Would the Attitude Era have ended? How long would it have lasted?

What wrestlers would have jumped ship from one company to the other? Would, for example, HBK have made his in-ring return to WCW?

Would TNA have ever happened?

Would John Cena be the star he is today?

Would wrestling be more popular today? Less popular?

What would the landscape of wrestling be today if the Monday Night Wars were STILL going strong?

[#BROKEN Hasney]

The Iraq war probably would never have happened.

[Kane Knight]

WCW still had massive problems and there's no guarantee they'd have stayed afloat. Assuming they did, WWF threw out no compete clauses, which hampered the biggest lane shifts.

The Attitude Era probabaly would have ended when more wrestlers started dying. I'm pretty sure with two major companies still competing and touring, Eddie would not have been the first.

I can't see Michaels returning to WCW, but maybe. I think guys like Lesnar might have in order to vye for less travel time and stuff. Maybe. And a lot of the TNA flow, obviously, since that's basically what TNA served as.

[Juan]

What if I would have used strawberry jelly in my peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of grape?

[Nicky Fives]

since when has HBK competed in WCW?

[ooTin]

What if I didnt kill that hooker in madrid and hack up her body?
What if I cured world hunger?
The world would be a better place with 1 more option.
As for who would be in WCW.. I have no idea.
But I guarantee that WWE would still be better.
And yes, I believe TNA would have still happened because it is something that Jarrett wanted to do for a long time. But I do believe it would have been more ROHesk. Or still in weekly PPV format.

[whiteyford]

since when has HBK competed in WCW?

I was under the impression he was still under contract during his in-ring retirement, legends type deal the same as Austin so he couldnt appear on anyone elses show without permission.

[Rammsteinmad]

I was wondering the same thing about HBK, but couldn't be bothered to Wikipedia it so just assumed he must have worked for NWA at some point or something.

[edyhdrawde]

I was under the impression by HBK in-ring return he meant after he was out with his back for four years.

Actually the WWE had a chance to keep the Monday Night Wars going if he wanted to, instead of wanting the glory of smiting his enemies. If they actually ran with the story that Shane bought WCW and they actually kept it running that way, they could have milked it for all it's worth, instead of the piss poor invasion storyline.

[Onyx]

WCW still had massive problems and there's no guarantee they'd have stayed afloat. Assuming they did, WWF threw out no compete clauses, which hampered the biggest lane shifts.

The Attitude Era probabaly would have ended when more wrestlers started dying. I'm pretty sure with two major companies still competing and touring, Eddie would not have been the first.

I can't see Michaels returning to WCW, but maybe. I think guys like Lesnar might have in order to vye for less travel time and stuff. Maybe. And a lot of the TNA flow, obviously, since that's basically what TNA served as.


Thank you for being practically the only person to get the point of this thread.

I never said HBK wrestled for WCW, I asked what if when he made his 'in-ring return' it was in WCW instead of WWE. After all, he returned in part because of Kevin Nash (and has said so in an interview) and joined the brief run of the nWo. There is a chance without Nash in the WWE, he wouldnt have come back. At least not when he did. Yes he was contracted with WWE (although not as a in-ring performer), and as everyone knows NO ONE in the HISTORY of wrestling has EVER gotten out of their contract. EVER. Right?

All the little sub questions I posed, some likely and some very unlikely, were there to try to stimulate a discussion because I figured some forum-goers wouldnt be bright enough to understand the question without some assistance. Judging by many of the responses, I was right.

[YoungFlyFlashy]

There would be one less "What If..." thread.

[Corporate CockSnogger]

What if God was one of us?

[ooTin]

Just a slob like on of us

[whiteyford]

Just a stranger on the bus?

[Kane Knight]

There would be one less "What If..." thread.

Maybe there would be more. Like "What if WCW had gone out of business?"

[YoungFlyFlashy]

Maybe there would be more. Like "What if WCW had gone out of business?"

Bet your right, maybe even, "What if Vince bought out his competition?"

[Kane Knight]

What if some dumb cunt got her daddy to buy her a wrestling promotion?

[Fox]

I think that the war was going to end eventually no matter what - somebody had to give. If it never ended, today it would be nothing more than a slight struggle with the WWE as the dominant force in professional wrestling. WCW caught lightning in a bottle with the nWo, but once that was over, they were shit out of luck. Vince McMahon is a wrestling promoter - it's in his blood and he was going to win no matter what. The guys running WCW were businessmen and they were never the type of creative geniuses and promoters that McMahon and his team were and are.

If WCW were still around I'd see it as being what EliteXC is to the UFC. They exist, they get recognition from some fans, but they are not and will not ever be as big as Ultimate Fighting Championship. WCW would be the little brother to the WWE's big brother.

As far as what would've happened to this wrestler or that wrestler, it's impossible to say and I'm not interested in that kind of conjecture.

[SOCCER LEGS]

Actually the WWE had a chance to keep the Monday Night Wars going if he wanted to, instead of wanting the glory of smiting his enemies. If they actually ran with the story that Shane bought WCW and they actually kept it running that way, they could have milked it for all it's worth, instead of the piss poor invasion storyline.

do you have any idea how fucking stupid that would be?

really, what the fuck is wrong with you?

[DLVH84]

I was wondering the same thing about HBK, but couldn't be bothered to Wikipedia it so just assumed he must have worked for NWA at some point or something.

Shawn most likely wrestled at different NWA territories, like in Kansas City and in Dallas for WCCW.