"It Should Have Been _______"
 

So, we're doing another podcast this week, and for a change of pace we're looking at matches, pushes and angles in wrestling history where you could debate that somebody else should have gotten a certain spot, and things would have gone better than they did - should be a fun look back over different time periods.

Think somebody else should have run over Austin? Think somebody else should have beaten Goldberg? Think somebody else should have won King Of The Ring 95? Think somebody else should have main evented a WrestleMania rather than the guy that did? Think WCW should have built around somebody different? Etc....

Give us the one you always felt strongest about, whatever it may be, and explain how and why it could have worked. As always, we'll read the best contributions on the show and discuss what you think.

It should have been Ken Patera who defeated Superstar Billy Graham for the WWWF title instead of Backlund.

Backlund was not right for the territory. He was small and bland, though he was a good wrestler.

Patera on the other hand was big, strong, could work and had the whole USA Olympian thing going for him. He wpuld have been a much bettet champion and draw than Backlund.

It should have been Jericho who ran over Austin. He was an up and comer who had everything needed to be an upper mid card player, but never seemed to have that one push or angle that propelled him there permanently. I know he had runs with Triple H, but a feud with a red hot returning Austin and the heat from taking him out could've moved him up the status ladder at a quicker pace, and considering his tenure and value to the company, would've been better long-term investment.

It should have been Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman leading the WCW and ECW factions during the Invasion. While Vince eventually shelled out the money to get Goldberg and Ric Flair and the nWo and Rey Mysterio later on, if there was one guy he absolutely should have spent the extra money to get right at the beginning of doing the WCW invasion, it absolutely should have been Bischoff. Their rivalry, the idea that those two men and their billion-dollar empires were actually sworn enemies, was the last thing that anyone believed was 'real' in wrestling, and the two of them leading factions against each other on the same show, with Heyman and the ECW guys being an anarchic wild-card group in between, would have been absolutely huge (and would have made up for the fact that the Alliance didn't have any names bigger than DDP and Booker T in their camp).

Marty Jannetty should have thrown Shawn Michaels through the Barber Shop window. Michaels was already the more popular of the two, and Jannetty really would have gotten a nice rub off the heel turn. Michaels was talented enough to get over in either role, I feel.

Lol Jannetty was a friggen mess

Survivor Series 1997

It should have been after Austin/Owen Bret yell at Owen for losing his title. Owen then slaps Bret and challenges him for the WWE title.

Bret drops the title to Owen before HBK beats Owen to be the champion.

No screwjob. Owen gets a title reign and HBK is champion.

No screwjob? That certainly would have made wrestling way better.

Owen would be alive though so suck it.

you don't know that for sure.

I would have ended Owen. Something about Owen's really sends me into a murderous rage.

Never felt Owen was ever over enough to be the main guy.

lolSTD

He could have died celebrating his title win for all you know?

Owen was a midcarder, and that's being nice about it.

Kane should have been in Big Shows spot for his feud with the Authority.

Big Show made no sense being there, especially with his "iron clad" contract and Kane would have made perfect sense.

You delete this post right the fuck now.

It should have been NOBODY who ended The Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania....

Nah. It should've been John Cena.

It should have been unannounced who the anonymous Raw GM was. Making it Hornswoggle was stupid, and is now canon. They cannot bring that idea back. That gimmick is what made Cole who he is.

Anybody but Savio Vega should have been the vaunted mystery partner in the Main Event of No Way Out '98.

It should have been Paul Orndorff vs Hogan at Wrestlemania 2.

It should have been CM Punk in the main event against John Cena at WrestleMania 27. Punk was red-hot coming out of the SES storyline and had the New Nexus faction behind him. He should have been the one to take the WWE Championship from Randy Orton at the Rumble and then defended against John Cena in the main event at Mania. The Miz was definitely very over at this point in his career, but he was not at a level to be in the main event in the same ring as The Rock and John Cena. Looking back on it now, it's one of the biggest fuck-ups in booking a WM main event in history. Also probably would have made for an awesome main event match.

BUNDAMANIA WAS RUNNING WILD!!

BUNDY!

BUNDY!

BUNDY!

BUNDY!

BUNDY!

It should have been Punk vs Cena for Mania 29. Would have been a great ending to their on-going feud at the time. The Mania build likely would have been better than Cena-Rock II revolving solely on Cena's supposed "worst year ever."

Rock could still get his title reign later in the year while Cena-Rock II could still occur if the goal was to just get Cena his win back.

It should have been Hornswoggle who retired instead of the Cruiser Weight title.

Patera was awesome. He would have done great.

Woooooo Ken Pantera the heavy metal rasslin Olympian

Should have been Bret to beat Hogan for the belt at King of the Ring '93, would have given him the credibility of an established top guy instead of having to scrape his credibility out of the bottom of the barrel that was the roster at the time. Instead, Hogan was all Hogan-y about it. I mean christ I'd have gotten if it was 1989 or 1990 and Hogan was still the mother fucking man, but Hulkamania wasn't what it had been (mind you he was still over, just not in the same way). It would have been amazing for Bret who'd have run with it.

Also, fuck you Gertner.

Lol that vanilla midget should have been an opening match guy.

Hulkamania brother!

Even Kevin Nash said Bret was "the only 5'11" guy I'd let give me a backbreaker"... notwithstanding the fact he's 6'2". Bret was the. fucking. man. Definition of turning chicken shit into chicken salad.

Would have rather had Cena and Punk switch places at Mania 29. Don't know how it would've been worked in with Punk's reign, but Cena/Taker could've been electric, and I enjoyed Punk's matches with Rock far more than Cena's.

Paul Orndorff should've gotten Andre's spot in WM 3.

The feud with Hogan was huge at the time. He wasn't even on the fucking card ffs.

Dusty Rhodes should've beat Superstar Billy Graham for the title instead of Bob Backlund.

Backlund was definitely not a good choice. Dusty was insanely over in his WWWF appearances in the late 70s.

He and Graham already had a built in feud throughout 1977.

Woah, woah, woah. This is gonna need some delving into.

You don't think Hogan vs Andre should have happened???

It should have been Owen Hart to defeat his brother Bret for the WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1994, then Diesel could have won the title from an injured/worn down Owen at a house show to commence his year-long reign....

it wasn't that great of a match.

it was built up in a big way for sure. Andre could barely get around by that point.

It was good if you were a young fan sure. Andre and Hulk had had dozens of matches prior to that.

From a business point, I doubt Orndorff vs Hogan would have done nearly as well as Hogan vs Andre.

Pretty sure Orndorff wasn't on the card due to his arm surgery.