And All That Could Have Been?

[It's Damn Real!]

Hogan, Savage, Hart, Hennig, Rude, DiBiase, Nash, Hall, Luger, etc.

What do they all have in common? Every one of them left jobs at WWF at one point or another to jump ship and join rival promotion World Championship Wrestling during the original Monday Night Wars. But this thread isn't about them — it's about the guys who may (or may not) have had the opportunity to jump ship, but didn't.

WCW created some of the biggest names in the industry, and reinvented even more—most of whom came from WWF—but there were a number of performers who chose to stay (often out of some sense of loytalty) who a lot of people wish had actually made the jump for a myriad of reasons. That's what this thread is for.

Of the crop of performers who didn't capitalize on the rise of WCW and jump ship before the company fell, who do you think would have had the biggest impact for WCW (as well as for themselves) had they actually done so instead of staying pact with WWF and why?

Some of the most notable names who did not make the jump: Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels, Jerry Lawler, Steve Austin and The Rock.

So lets have it. What say you?

 

[The Crock]

The entire course of the era could have been changed. WCW could still be alive, and WWE could have been the one that folded. Had huge stars like Rock and Austin jumped ship, although it is unlikely they would have, then the WWE wouldn't have stood a chance. For some guys though, it could have been an excellent career move. A lot of WWE's mid-carders got phased out, maybe going to WCW would have changed that. Who knows, they could have been main eventers, huge draws. A guy like Road Dogg comes to mind, he was always just floating around on WWE TV, what if he'd gone? Maybe the fans wouldn't have cared initially, but what if he became a bonafide star? So many possibilities.

Nicely done, IDR.

 

[KeepItFresh]

It would have been pretty interesting seeing names like Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels and The Rock showing up in WCW. It's kind of hard seeing Austin even thinking about it, though with the way he was treated. I'd say he would have stayed in WWE until it folded if that was the case then he'd probably jump ship just for a good final payday.

Maybe they would have been smart enough to book Rock/Michaels. I don't know. I would mostly be looking forward to the potential matches Flair could have had.

There is one downside to this entire thing, though. You know stars like Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero probably would have never risen. They were seemingly always held down in WCW. I would say I would've missed seeing them get up there, but I wouldn't even know they could be there. They would always get outshined and that would be a pretty big downside.

 

[hatehabsforever]

The two obvious answers here are Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker (as well as the Rock and SCSA as well of course). Just imagine if at the height of the Monday Night Wars, when WWF was at it's lowest point, and WCW conversely was at it's highest, if the lights had gone out in the arena, and gong! gong! and out comes the Undertaker, with smoke and lightning and urn and Paul Bearer. I think this would have had a tremendous impact for WCW, as the surreal character of the Undertaker could have really given them a boost.

Shawn Michaels as well, arguably the best wrestler to have not jumped ship. Could have had tremendous impact as well. These two would have had more of an impact than anyone, including the Rock and Austin, as the Rock and Austin were still establishing themselves as the Wars were being waged, whereas HBK and Taker were already established.

Of course this would have been career suicide for these guys, as ultimately, the mismanagement that killed would have likely still occurred, and these guys would have gone down with the ship. Their loyalty to Vince and the WWE served the company well, but also served their personal careers well.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The two obvious answers here are Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker (as well as the Rock and SCSA as well of course). Just imagine if at the height of the Monday Night Wars, when WWF was at it's lowest point, and WCW conversely was at it's highest, if the lights had gone out in the arena, and gong! gong! and out comes the Undertaker, with smoke and lightning and urn and Paul Bearer. I think this would have had a tremendous impact for WCW, as the surreal character of the Undertaker could have really given them a boost.

Shawn Michaels as well, arguably the best wrestler to have not jumped ship. Could have had tremendous impact as well. These two would have had more of an impact than anyone, including the Rock and Austin, as the Rock and Austin were still establishing themselves as the Wars were being waged, whereas HBK and Taker were already established.

Of course this would have been career suicide for these guys, as ultimately, the mismanagement that killed would have likely still occurred, and these guys would have gone down with the ship. Their loyalty to Vince and the WWE served the company well, but also served their personal careers well.

But is is really that simple?

Think about it this way: had an Undertaker or a Michaels jumped, granted them being the biggest names in the company at the time who hadn't (yet), where would they actually seed in the heirarchy of the company? WCW was already top-heavy at the time, which tells me you're only considering the impact of the company (having landed a big-timer) and not the big-timer himself and the success he would have made on an individual basis. I'm not sure Michaels or the Undertaker would have had as much as you think.

The answer to me is Owen Hart, namely because Hart at the time was still on the verge of becoming that main event-type performer, but hadn't quite reached it yet. He'd have come in as an upper-mid-carder, which would have been best for both WCW and for Owen himself IMO, especially with Bret having jumped already as well.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think if HBK had gone in the mid 90s when all others around him were leaving, then the WWE would have died.

Yeah yeah there is the argument that Michaels was a poor champion as he didnt bring back the viewers who were leaving to WCW in droves, but the fact is that Michaels was over as fuck at that time. If he had joined the queue and followed Nash, Hall etc out of the door then the WWE would have had very few wrestlers who could have stepped into his shoes and even attempted to carry the company.

Plus a Michaels defection to WCW would have prevented the formation of DX, who were one of the most important factors in the creation of the Attitude era, and hugely popular for several years, also giving HHH the chance to grow as a character and performer. If HBK had gone, and HHH hadnt come up as a main-eventer...would he have even married Steph and be the heir to to Vince's throne????

So I think that Shawn Michaels remaining as the WWE's main player was crucial in the company winning the Monday Night Wars

The next wrestler I will look at is The Undertaker. Mark Calloway has proven extremely loyal to the WWE for 20 years, never switching to WCW, but if he had left, again it would have severaly hurt the WWE. Undertaker is one of the all-time great WWE characters, and him showing up on Nitro would be as big an impact as Hogan showing up there, or Austin, or The Rock.

However, I do not think that Undertaker being a part of WCW would have dramatically altered the ratings in the end, as we all know how ridiculous the booking was in WCW towards the end of its lifetime. Without McMahon to veto his crazy ideas, Russo would have completely destroyed the Undertaker character with ridiculous gimmick matches, stipulations or storylines. That 70s Guy Undertaker???? Russo beating Taker for the belt??? It could have happened. So I think that Undertaker would have ended up coming back to the WWE, as they know how to book his character properly.

 

[Ferbian]

I'd have to say Shawn Michaels really. Not because he was absolutely huge and would've made a gigantic impact in WCW, but simply because of the match quality that Shawn Michaels was able to bring during those days, and eventually later on.

A move to WCW would possibly have saved his back as well. And I'd like to think that perhaps Shawn Michaels not being there to pre-expose the WWF audience to what eventually became the Attitude Era, there might have been a decent hit to WWF until later on.

Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are considered incredibly loyal workers that carried the company on their backs throughout it's hardest time. It was on the decline, and Shawn stuck around, eventually being able to harvest the crops of this.

So while there's a lot of great choices, I'd prefer mentioning Shawn.