What If: Volume 1 (HBK's back injury)

[Loose Cannon]

I didn't know what to call the title and I'll probably make a couple more these, so yea.

Anyway, What if back in 1998, HBK never sustained a back injury? What if everything went as planned for Mania 14, but HBK was still an active superstar the next night on Raw and beyond? How do you think this would of shaken up any storylines?


Personally, I think what might of happened was that HHH would of kicked Shawn out of DX to his face live on Raw. I think HHH would of still formed the newer DX and that the Outlaws probably would of helped him attack Michaels. X-pac may have returned as a babyface to aid Shawn though.

I think HHH and Shawn would have eventually feuded. But then DX doesn't turn babyface and they don't have thier feud with the Nation. Maybe Shawn and X-pac would of formed thier own DX and the two groups would of feuded with each other.

it's just funny to look back and see how one deviation could change up major storylines.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

They could've done a program with a face HBK teamed up with Owen Hart taking on the new DX. That would've been nice and juicy. Assuming Owen would do it of course.

[Loose Cannon]

oooo, good call. Forgot about Owen. Would of been very interesting to see where that might of went. You might have gotten Owen and Austin teaming together to take on DX.

[Kane Knight]

Depends. Did the back injury directly lead to smile loss?

[ozzman6669]

I would have love to see HBK in the attitude era, the promo between him and The Dwayne would have been great!!!

[RVDmark]

Depends. Did the back injury directly lead to smile loss?

Now thats an episode of House I'd definately watch.

[pj69]

I would have love to see HBK in the attitude era, the promo between him and The Dwayne would have been great!!!

Yeah man that would have been sweet!

[ttetf]

1. HBK vs. HHH would have happened a good 3 years before it actually did.
2. The Rock and Shawn Michaels would have had a program that had drawn huge.
3. Given his riddiculous ability to sell and bump, it's somewhat likely Shawn would have eventually injured himself somewhere along the way and would be retired at this point like Austin, or doing occassional matches like Foley.

I also wonder if eventually his ego would have gotten the better of him and he would have gone to WCW. I don't think he would have taken too warmly to Austin and Rocky taking his spot on the top. I mean, considering he got along so well with Bret when they were the two top names in WWF...

[Mr. Nerfect]

I never really watched during this time, so I can't comment on specific storylines, but I imagine that being in the WWF during the Attitude era boom (instead of just helping kick-start it) would have gotten more attention on HBK during the WWE's best years, and probably made him more of a mainstream star, instead of just one incredibly important within the industry.

[Jeritron]

I would have love to see HBK in the attitude era, the promo between him and The Dwayne would have been great!!!

However, would The Rock have become what he was if HBK was still around with power at the time?
Guys like The Rock, Foley and HHH got pushed to the big time because Bret and Shawn were gone, and Stone Cold couldn't face the Undertaker for the title every month.

[Jeritron]

The Austin vs Vince fued was rooted back in late 97, but the actual storyline and angle was reactionary to the HBM departure too.

If HBM was around, there'd likely be a carry over fued, instead of rolling with the Austin vs Vince and this months hired hand to take the title away. From the night after Wrestlemania, there was no mention of HBM by Austin and focus shifted to him doing things his way and Vince taking exception to it, and forcing him to do them the easy way or the hard way.
The whole corporation storyline likely would have unfolded very differently, maybe not at all.

[Juan]

Shawn would've had so many great matches! Boggles the mind really.

[Jeritron]

That's one thing I can agree on without question. But what matches he'd be in is another debate. The main event picture would be so different it's almost impossible to discuss.

[Jeritron]

Who even knows if WWF would have won the war. It was still very close at that point and the year of 98 was the defining year in the battle. If the whole year was different, which it would have been, who knows who would have won.

Who knows if Shawn would have made it much longer. If he didn't have a back injury maybe something else worse would have happened, or he would have lost his smile again. Maybe he would have fallen out with Vince and ended up in WCW. Maybe some of the WWE talent would have gotten fed up without a top spot being opened up, and head south.
Or maybe some of WCWs younger talent wouldn't have seen the writing on the wall of an upcoming WWF win of the Monday Night Wars, and they wouldn't have jumped ship.

If 98 wasn't as huge of a year as it was for WWE and in turn better for WCW, would Big Show and Jericho have wound up where they did, when they did?
Would Kurt Angle have even become interested in pro wrestling and been signed/pushed?
Maybe with Shawn still a big force backstage maybe Kevin Nash and Scott Hall would have jumped back to WWF. It almost happened, I'd imagine Shawn's presence and stroke could have helped it happen


Everything in life is reactionary

[Loose Cannon]

very good points :y:

[James Steele]

Shawn Michaels would have OD'd by the year 2001, and his legacy would be much much different.

[Theo Dious]

Who even knows if WWF would have won the war. It was still very close at that point and the year of 98 was the defining year in the battle. If the whole year was different, which it would have been, who knows who would have won.

I have to agree here, I've always felt, looking back, that Shawn's absence at that time was a very fortuitous thing. His stepping aside made the room that was needed for the Rock/Austin/HHH/Foley machine to take over, and while HBK/Rock would have been fully awesome, I really think that everything went much better with the Undertaker being the only real grandfather star on the stage at that point. Success in the wrestling business is a very specific formula, and setting Shawn on the shelf may have been key in the success of the Attitude Era and the eventual victory of WWF over WCW.

Plus, if Shawn hadn't sat out those years, I doubt we would have had him past '02, being optimistic, and through a lot of the extremely dull and boring times, Shawn has at least provided us with moments worth watching.

[Theo Dious]

Shawn Michaels would have OD'd by the year 2001, and his legacy would be much much different.

That's another good point; Shawn's absence from the ring led to him getting off the damn drugs, and if that hadn't happened, the chances are extremely high that he'd either be dead at this point, or else holed up in infested obscurity with Waltman somewhere.

[Hanso Amore]

Maybe it would have changed owens booking, and he might have not been the Blue Blazer, and we know where that went.

The rock started his ascent because of the DX feud, had HBK been around, that might not have happened, altering how and when Rocky got over, and could have changed Foley being a top face due to one less spot a the top.


Just think withou that injury, The Rock, Foley, HHH, Outlaws, Chyna, Corporation, Nation, owen, Jarrett and so on would have all been booked differently due to a trickle down.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

And Savio Vega. Don't forget about Savio Vega.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Seriously.

[Loose Cannon]

reading all these posts, it's just wierd to even imagine him being there in all of 98 as yes, so many angles and storylines would have probably been different. I think Vince was stll destined to create a Corporation, which would have probably turned DX face soon enough. HBK vs Vince might have happened along the way.

And maybe HHH turns on HBK in 99 and not X-pac

[Mr. Nerfect]

Thinking things through, I'm thinking that Shawn Michaels would have been the WWE's biggest star in 2000, while Austin was out with neck problems. I could just imagine Triple H and Shawn Michaels trading the belt back and forth, instead of Hunter and The Rock. It would probably have kept The Rock back down just a little bit, and stop him from becoming the phenomenon he is today. Rock might even still be around as the top guy now, instead of say, Cena.