Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball
1) Jericho over Triple H and stays as champion during the "match that never happened" on Raw in 1999 --- Could have made their small feud become the next mega feud considering how well the rivalry was being built up at the time.
3) Tazz over Triple H on Smackdown when both guys wore their title belts --- Even Vince thinks this was a big mistake considering how much it hurt Tazz and didn't really do anything positive in the long run.
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I was going to mention these two. Especially the Tazz one, because of how epic that could have been. Think about it, Tazz "went to ECW on a day off and won their Heavyweight Championship". I know it's a running gag around here, but Tazz was already known for being a "badass submission machine"... hell, they had him hand Angle his first loss on his "surprise" debut. Having him beat Hunter and thereby becoming a dual WHC in the span of a week would have been a mark out moment, a unexpected surprise fitting the "anything can happen..." mantra, and a shot in the arm for the "One Man Crime Spree".
Also, I wanted to add:
*2) Lance Storm def. Booker T for the WCW title - they likely would have had Booker "win it back" at the end, to give that "send 'em home happy" feeling, but I'm going to run under the assumption that he'd be the the complimentary heel... a new guy who came in and wins everything vs the guy who busted his ass for years and finally got a break. He gets the "grand slam" within one year, proving how he's such a "superior athlete from Calgary... Alberta, Canada." I was a fan of the Booker/Benoit "best of 7", imagine the program these two could have had longer term.
On a larger scale, this also sets up Lance being the champion for the attempted WCW relaunch. In that scenario, Booker T gets his "rematch", and Buff bullshit doesn't happen. May have changed the entire landscape of WCW/WWE reboot.
*4a) (even though it just happened) Cody Rhodes def. Big Show at 'Mania. (Or at least, ultimately win it back for keeps). Look, I know it isn't likely, but I liked the idea of Cody "pulling an Ultimate Warrior". The concern is that they're just going to cycle them both into something else instead of feuding over the IC for awhile. A feud and some title defenses would put some cred back into the belt, but we know how that goes around WWE... it's Russian Roulette if they're going to run with a feud or pull the trigger on something else.
*4b) Sheamus def. Bryan at 'Mania... just not like that.
It isn't just the match, it's how quickly they seem to want to step over D Bryan. I mean, no rematch, no interjection... just a returning ADR? I don't see why bashing Danielson is so fun to do around here, but Dos Caras is A-Ok. They both got pushed to the top pretty fast, just the one guy got a rich guy gimmick to run with and the other guy didn't get any kind of packaging, so don't throw that "charisma" shit out there. Hell, Punk was kinda bland on his debut, too. Give that part time.
Back to the match: DttS's idea of having the match restart is a good one. Make it as if he were actually leaving the building, THEN send his ass back to the ring to lose in record time, which I guess was the plan. He has a gripe about "being forced to compete twice" and "being cheated" out of his title to be parlayed into something more.
(refered to them as "a" and "b" since they happened on the same night, I feel as if one of these changes happened, the other shouldn't)
5) Christian def. Orton on Smackdown, retaining WHC. It seems they were so desperate for Christian to be a heel again that they shot shit that was working down too quickly. We have Christian "finally winning the big one" with the support of the retiring-oh-too-soon Edge. Yes, there's the "sympathy" reign, which is squashed with Christian's loss. The thing is, Christian could have been defeated by "Silverback v2" Mark Henry. In fact, having Henry ruin the matches between the two consistently and interjecting himself without Christian going heel could have worked just as well. You still got Christian and Orton as faces, Henry beating/injuring them both & going on to be WHC, and Sheamus being the guy who can step up and take him out, as it happened.
This is where the "one more match" could have worked. Instead of making him look like a whiny heel pussy who can't get it done, he becomes the guy who got legit screwed and injured. And "not getting it done" against Mark Henry doesn't seem all that weak as opposed to losing chance after chance to people down the card to not even get your belt back. Instead of Edge sympathy, he would get his own, and winning the belt again would be money when the payoff came.
Jesus, that was a bigger wall o'text than I thought
