Change of Plans

[Mr. C]

I was just thinking about the “what if’s” in WWE’s history in regards to had wrestlers not been fired, injured, etc…

WrestleMania 18 - Rikishi was supposed to face Scott Hall, but Hall didn’t want to be involved in the Stink Face. While preparing for a match with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kevin Nash got hurt, so Hall was placed in a match with Austin on the show instead. Rikishi was kept off of WrestleMania. Hall was going to beat Austin at WrestleMania, but Austin didn’t want to lose unless he could win the title cleanly the next night on RAW, and so, it was reversed, and Austin defeated Hall and took a week long break following WrestleMania, refusing to show up for the following night’s RAW.

This turned out to be the beginning of the end for Hall and Austin. Hall was later released from his contract due to an altercation and issues stemming from a dispute with his wife, and Austin vetoed any matches that would result in him losing and ultimately walked out of the company.

[Favre4Ever]

I really wish we could have seen where those feuds with Guerrero, Benoit and Flair would have gone had Austin simply bit the bullet and stayed with the company. To be honest the show was really never the same, and Austin walking out might really have been that defining moment that transitioned the WWE into the next era.

[The Pope]

I don't want to lose, and that's the bottom line cause stone cold said so.

[The MAC]

shawn michaels and austin have a lost in common apparently.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I never knew the full story there. That is really interesting. I'm sure I know some, but they don't come to mind right now.

See, I have no way of knowing these for sure, but I'm fairly certain that William Regal would have ended up as WWE Champion sometime in 2008 if he didn't get suspended during his MONSTER heel push. The dude was General Manager of RAW, King of the Ring and abusing his power left, right and centre. It just seemed right that he used his evil King GM powers to put himself in a slanted match against a WWE Champion and walk out victor (somehow). It also would have made sense for CM Punk to cash in his Money in the Bank title shot against William Regal, and score one over the evil GM who defeated him in the King of the Ring Tournament.

Granted, all of this may not have happened -- but it seemed so obvious at the time. Regal had been involved in storylines with Triple H, CM Punk (and has backstage connections with both of them) and even Vince McMahon.

It just would have been interesting to see how the WWE would have gone with William Regal as a heel WWE Champion, CM Punk as a face WWE Champion (as opposed to World Heavyweight Champion), and all that jazz.

CM Punk has actually been involved in another. It would have been interesting to see how ECW, the ECW Title and the performers themselves would have turned out if Chris Benoit had kept on going on and had that feud with CM Punk over the ECW Title as planned.

[dronepool]

Is there really a difference between the WWE Champion belt and the World Heavyweight belt, besides one being newer and the other having a longer history? I just think of them as belt 1 and belt 2

[Juan]

Originally Posted by dronepool Is there really a difference between the WWE Champion belt and the World Heavyweight belt, besides one being newer and the other having a longer history? I just think of them as belt 1 and belt 2

Well if you're TPWW poster, Heyman, whichever belt is on Raw is the main belt.

[Jeritron]

Things should have been run differently going into that show, and long before it.

Just ignoring the way the invasion and NWO were handled, I will throw a few things out there.

Austin should have been facing Hogan.

Rock should have been heel by that point. It would have made more sense for him to be the alliance turncoat. Also, Jericho was at a point where he was way over as a face and hadn't gotten a title run yet.
He should have been a face chasing the title going into mania, rather than how he was used.
Rock vs Jericho should have been a more developed fued, and used for the mania main event.

HHH should have been facing Hall and/or Nash. Or Flair, and have the Brothers of Destruction face The Outsiders.

Don't know what Shawn's deal was at that point, but I'd have a hard time believing that the extra few months until Summerslam was needed for an in ring return. Having him face HHH, or even team up with him against Hall/Nash would have been immense.

It's all water under the bridge though. Obviously egos and circumstances stopped the card from being that way, but it would have made a lot more sense.

[screech]

Kennedy as McMahon's son could have (and probably would have) been his ticket to a World Championship had he not gotten suspended right as the wheels were really starting to turn.

[Heyman]

Originally Posted by Juan Well if you're TPWW poster, Heyman, whichever belt is on Raw is the main belt.

Are you completely blind Juan? Seriously....

Since 2003, look at which matches at Wrestlemania have been the FINAL match on the card. With the exception of when Undertaker was contending for the belt, ALL of the final matches at Wrestlemania have been RAW-related.

Despite Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho being the most entertaining wrestlers in 08' and 09' respectively, guys like Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Orton, and Batista were the MAIN guys being advertised to the public.

Do you ever notice how when top tier RAW guys get moved to Smackdown, they are automatically one of the top guys on Smackdown? (if not - the actual champ?). Do you NOT notice that most of the 1st time "World/WWE" champions win their 1st title on Smackdown? Do you NOT notice that quite often, top tier Smackdown guys get drafted to RAW and get buried?

You make it sound like *I* have a bias towards RAW when in fact, it is the WWE creative team and management THEMSELVES that have a major bias towards RAW (despite it being a lackluster show for the most part due to the staleness). I am simply pointing out the obvious.

[addy2hotty]

Originally Posted by Noid See, I have no way of knowing these for sure, but I'm fairly certain that William Regal would have ended up as WWE Champion sometime in 2008 if he didn't get suspended during his MONSTER heel push. The dude was General Manager of RAW, King of the Ring and abusing his power left, right and centre. It just seemed right that he used his evil King GM powers to put himself in a slanted match against a WWE Champion and walk out victor (somehow). It also would have made sense for CM Punk to cash in his Money in the Bank title shot against William Regal, and score one over the evil GM who defeated him in the King of the Ring Tournament.

Yeah, Regal was at the top of his game. I have no doubt in my mind that he would have definitely had some matches with Triple H, who he'd already starting verbal sparring with and cutting off his matches etc. I think it was the last 'long term' storyline I really got into and Regal has deservedly never recovered from his mistakes.

He finally got a main event push handed to him, one that worked and he threw it away.

I wonder if that was his one and only chance.

[XL]

I remember the rumour that Benoit would replace Angle in the run up to WM19 due to Angle's neck problems.

Obviously this was more of a back-up plan rather than an original plan gone awry but I think it would have been interesting to see where it went.

Would Angle have dropped the title to Benoit before WM19? Would Benoit simply have replaced Angle with Haas and Benjamin becoming Team Benoit? Or would the title have been held up? Would Lesnar still have picked up the big WM win or would Benoit have won his first World/WWE Title a year earlier?

[Team Sheep]

Always wondered where the Eddie/Batista storyline would have gone if he hadn't died. They'd just become 'best pals' and Eddie had gone back to his old Lie, Cheat and Steal theme with the low rider, but I'm sure eventually Eddie would have stabbed Batista in the back for the title.

[redoneja]

What if the Ultimate Warrior didn't leave WWF in late 1992, Mr Perfect never turned face to replace him as Randy Savage's partner at Survivor Series and Ric Flair never decided to leave WWF in early 1993.

In my mind, I play it out as the Savage/Warrior v Flair/Razor Ramon feud continued into 1993 with Mr Perfect eventually turning face because Flair and Ramon turned on him for costing him their Survivor Series match. Randy Savage would win the Royal Rumble that year leading to a Wrestlemania IX card with these three matches as main events:

WWF Title
Bret Hart (c) v Randy Savage

Ric Flair v Mr Perfect

Ultimate Warrior v Razor Ramon

[Heyman]

Originally Posted by Rated R Classic and Austin vetoed any matches that would result in him losing and ultimately walked out of the company.

Just for the record, this is only a half-truth.

Austin was NOT against putting guys over. He was however, VERY against the idea of jobbing in stupid and meaningless ways (i.e. jobbing to Lesnar on RAW in a random match). Austin didn't mind doing the job provided that it was done in the right way. By jobbing in the RIGHT way, it would do more justice to the wrestler going over AND to Austin's personna (i.e. Austin, being the star that he was, shouldn't have been made to job in random and meaningless matches on NON-PPV events).

[Lavel]

I wonder how the nWo storyline in WWE would of went if Nash didn't get injured.

[screech]

Originally Posted by lavel666 I wonder how the nWo storyline in WWE would of went if Nash didn't get injured.

Don't know about the storyline, but Nash may have won the title (or at least had a better chance) at Judgment Day 2003.

[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by Team Sheep Always wondered where the Eddie/Batista storyline would have gone if he hadn't died. They'd just become 'best pals' and Eddie had gone back to his old Lie, Cheat and Steal theme with the low rider, but I'm sure eventually Eddie would have stabbed Batista in the back for the title.

Yeah, nobody officially came out and said it but the day Eddie died, they were taping both Raw and SmackDown later in the day and I think it was supposed to be Batista vs. Eddie vs. JBL (or somebody else, can't remember) for the World Heavyweight Title...and many think Eddie might have actually been slated to win the belt on SmackDown. He probably would have pinned the third guy in the match to continue the Eddie/Batista stuff.

IIRC, Stephanie McMahon actually broke down and said something like "you were going to be the champion..." during her video testamonial. But yeah, definitely would have liked to see where that feud went.

[Evil Vito]

Actually, thinking about it, if Eddie didn't die...what would that mean for Rey Mysterio? Would he have received ANY consideration to win the 2006 Royal Rumble and the title, or was that really nothing more than a complete sympathy run? Such a shame, Rey winning the belt is something I had always wanted to see...but not when it felt so obviously forced.

[Mr. C]

Originally Posted by lavel666 I wonder how the nWo storyline in WWE would of went if Nash didn't get injured.

If I remember correctly, when Triple-H had to choose whether he'd join RAW or SmackDown at Vengeance in 2002, the original plan was for the nWo (Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, The Big Show, & X-Pac) to interrupt and offer Triple-H a spot in the nWo, thus joining RAW, and believe it or not, Triple-H was scripted to join the nWo. Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon were also in the ring for this segment, and Bischoff was supposed to announce himself as a member of the nWo as well. This would've led to Bischoff, Nash, Michaels, Show, Triple-H, & X-Pac as the nWo taking over RAW thereafter. They planted the seeds for all of this when the nWo confronted Triple-H at King of the Ring backstage and told him that they had his back if he needed them in his match against The Undertaker and when Vince McMahon announced Bischoff as the General Manager of RAW.

However when Nash got injured, everything was changed. The nWo disbanded, X-Pac was released, and instead, only Michaels came out during that segment and convinced Triple-H to join RAW. I don't know what the original plan for SummerSlam was, but it wouldn't have led to Triple-H turning on Michaels and resulted in a match between the two.

I, for one, would've absolutely loved to seen that verison of the nWo on RAW.

[Mr. C]

Here's the KOTR segment & following RAW segment:

[Mr. Nerfect]

That nWo stuff is very interesting.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Big Vito 22 Actually, thinking about it, if Eddie didn't die...what would that mean for Rey Mysterio? Would he have received ANY consideration to win the 2006 Royal Rumble and the title, or was that really nothing more than a complete sympathy run? Such a shame, Rey winning the belt is something I had always wanted to see...but not when it felt so obviously forced.

I think he would have had consideration, at least. It's not like the WWE had not intentions of ever using Rey Mysterio as a main event guy. Eddie Guerrero spent a good half of 2005 putting Rey over in matches, in an an attempt to prime him for main event status.

If I remember correctly, people were talking for years about how Rey Mysterio was one day going to get a run at the top. It's just the circumstances surrounding Rey's initial push cloud that a little. I'm not sure if it would have been in early 2006; but Rey Mysterio would have eventually gotten a push to the World Heavyweight Title.

[Jeritron]

Originally Posted by Rated R Classic If I remember correctly, when Triple-H had to choose whether he'd join RAW or SmackDown at Vengeance in 2002, the original plan was for the nWo (Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, The Big Show, & X-Pac) to interrupt and offer Triple-H a spot in the nWo, thus joining RAW, and believe it or not, Triple-H was scripted to join the nWo. Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon were also in the ring for this segment, and Bischoff was supposed to announce himself as a member of the nWo as well. This would've led to Bischoff, Nash, Michaels, Show, Triple-H, & X-Pac as the nWo taking over RAW thereafter. They planted the seeds for all of this when the nWo confronted Triple-H at King of the Ring backstage and told him that they had his back if he needed them in his match against The Undertaker and when Vince McMahon announced Bischoff as the General Manager of RAW. However when Nash got injured, everything was changed. The nWo disbanded, X-Pac was released, and instead, only Michaels came out during that segment and convinced Triple-H to join RAW. I don't know what the original plan for SummerSlam was, but it wouldn't have led to Triple-H turning on Michaels and resulted in a match between the two. I, for one, would've absolutely loved to seen that verison of the nWo on RAW.

Yea that's pretty interesting. I would assume this would have led to an nWo-leading Triple H with the title, since he went on to become Raw's world champion and dominate anyways.
In fact, Bischoff just handed that title to him to make sure Raw had it's own champion.
It wouldn't suprise me if this was originally supposed to happen with Bischoff rewarding HHH with the belt for joining nWo. It would have made a lot of sense and gotten a lot of heat.

This all probably would have led to them dominating for a while, and an eventual split that resulted in a DX/nWo fued.
After that, I could see it eventually turning into the Triple H-Shawn fued as well.

[Mr. C]

Originally Posted by Jeritron In fact, Bischoff just handed that title to him to make sure Raw had it's own champion. It wouldn't suprise me if this was originally supposed to happen with Bischoff rewarding HHH with the belt for joining nWo. It would have made a lot of sense and gotten a lot of heat.

I agree. Funny how it was also the World Heavyweight Championship belt previously used in WCW. They might have had plans of spraypainting the nWo logo on it too, but then again, that was Hogan's thing, so who knows?

Again, I would've loved to seen it. I could just imagine the night after Vengeance, the nWo (Eric Bischoff, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, The Big Show, Triple-H, & X-Pac) coming out at the beginning of RAW and declaring a takeover. They had enough faces on the RAW roster that could've feuded with the entire group and led to some kind of big match at Survivor Series.