Booking decisions that robbed the fans of something they wanted

[Wald]

Speaking of Goldberg's WWE run.

Not having Goldberg win the title in the Summerslam Elimination Chamber match was ridiculous and is as bad an example of Triple H getting favourable booking for himself as anything. Listen to the crowd reaction to Goldberg when he enters and destroy everyone from Jericho to Orton to HBK, even against Michaels the fans went wild for him. That was the moment to pull the trigger on Goldberg getting the belt and getting a monster run but instead we got the usual Evolution shenanigans with Triple H winning yet again.

Even rebooking the rest of that year, you could still have wound up with Brock v Goldberg at Wrestlemania and HBK v Benoit v Triple H for the title as well. Just have Goldberg hold the title until the Royal Rumble where Brock would attack Goldberg to get the belt back on Triple H. Benoit still wins the Rumble, Goldberg returns the favour to Brock at No Way Out and we still get both of those matches.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Speaking of Goldberg's WWE run.

Not having Goldberg win the title in the Summerslam Elimination Chamber match was ridiculous and is as bad an example of Triple H getting favourable booking for himself as anything. Listen to the crowd reaction to Goldberg when he enters and destroy everyone from Jericho to Orton to HBK, even against Michaels the fans went wild for him. That was the moment to pull the trigger on Goldberg getting the belt and getting a monster run but instead we got the usual Evolution shenanigans with Triple H winning yet again.

That's exactly why HHH winning the Elimination Chamber was the RIGHT call. Goldberg winning the title in a multi-man anything goes match doesn't do jack to get him over. Triple H could have always (rightfully) claimed that the Chamber defeated him, and Goldberg could never beat him one-on-one. Instead, they had Goldberg beat HHH clean a month later at Unforgiven, one-on-one, no interference. Then at Survivor Series he beat Triple H AGAIN despite massive amount of interference on HHH's behalf. It finally took a multi-man No DQ Match for Triple H to win the title back from Goldberg. Goldberg was put over like crazy in his WWE run, people just complain because he wasn't booked as invincible, like he was in WCW.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Or maybe he was worried about Bryan's neck and wasn't sure if Bryan was going to be okay long term. Maybe they wanted to test the waters a little bit first before putting him in such a big position. They should have not put Bryan in the Rumble in the first place. They should have just waited a month and then said he was clear. I assume that would have lessened the backlash.

Or, you know, Vince knew Daniel Bryan had serious injury issues and didn't want to once again invest in a guy who would very realistically be off again soon, which proved to be the case. But you know, whatever works best for you...

Fair points, but what about the previous year?

 

[EastCoastFan]

We were never slated for a Savage-Steamboat rematch at WM 4. The original plan for WM 4 was for Savage to win the I-C title from the Honky Tonk Man, but Honky refused to drop the title (he was negotiating to go to WCW, and felt having the title increased his bargaining position), so to keep Savage happy, they had him win the World title tournament instead of their original choice, Ted DiBiase.

A better example of robbing fans of what they wanted to see would be WrestleMania 7. With the show slated to take place at the LA Coliseum, fans expected the main event to be a rematch of Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior from WM 6, and that was the plan at one point. In January 1991, with Desert Storm going on, Vince decided instead to have Sgt. Slaughter (who was now playing an Iraqi sympathizer) beat Warrior for the title. Immediately afterwards, ticket demand for WM 7 plummeted to almost nil. The LA Coliseum could hold 100,000 people (keep in mind, there was no stage at shows back then), but they had only sold 20,000 tickets. Because of that, for "security reasons", the show had to be moved to the LA Forum.

Another one would be WrestleMania 8. The main event was supposed to be Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF title, a match-up fans had been dreaming about for years. For whatever reason, they changed it to Hogan vs. Sid, and Flair defending the title against Randy Savage. Some say the reason for the change was because the WWF did Hogan vs. Flair at all the house shows that winter, killing the "once in a lifetime" vibe a WM match between the two would have had. Others have said it was because Hogan announced he would retire at WM 8, and Vince didn't want to let him go out as champion.

 

[dsotm5150]

I have a few that come to mind...Starrcade 1997. I don't even think I have to mention Sting vs Hogan or Nash no showing, but just the whole pay per view in general. This was WCW's premier PPV, their wrestlemania, this should have seen a decisive end, or atleast a major weakening of the nWo in general. The two big advertised matches that should have done that were Larry Zbyzsko vs Eric Bischoff for control of Nitro( in the first place why would you put a retired wrestler vs a non wrestler in such a high stakes match? Wouldn't you want to find two credible opponents to do that? Why not Flair vs Hennig, perfect match up and had been in a feud anyway, why not have it culminate at Starrcade?) and Sting vs Hogan both ended in controversy. The earlier ending in DQ and the latter, well we all know about the latter. A clean decisive win in both of these matches would have easily set WCW up to finally end the nWo and move on something new instead of milking 3 more years out of an already dying horse.

Anything involving Bret Hart in WCW, looking back did he even have one feud that got booked from start to finish? He had so much talent, and arguably the most momentum coming in when he did, he literally could have and should have been the top guy for atleast a year.

nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood....was there any point to this other than merchandising? Nothing ever happened with it to show that there was any real rivalry between the two factions. The Wolfpack was on red hot summer of 1998, but WCW did nothing with this, it was almost like it was literally just to sell tshirts.

The Invasion angle, had everything it need to be the next nWo, and Vince McMahon has the intelligence to have been able to pull it off and turn it into what become the brand extension(which was the plan) The big argument could be that it needed the faces of WCW, but I think it easily could have been pulled of with the guys he got, A younger, leaner, hungrier WCW. What I've heard and read was that if they hadn't waited another week to try running those WCW matches I believe it was Kidman vs Helms and Booker vs Bagwell, they would have been in Atlanta WCW's backyard, which would have gotten a much better reaction, but they pulled the trigger(maybe intentionally)in a market that WCW was probably not as popular in and it turned into what it was. There really was no reason to jump the gun with this angle, its not like Vince had competition, he could have literally started this one off slow, with vignettes foreshadowing an upcoming event, build the anticipation leading up to a Booker T or a DDP showing up and destroying an Austin or an Undertaker. Infact if he'd gone this route and been a little more patient, then we probably could have gotten a few more bigger names involved.

WWE's nWo run, booked terribly even from the start, why would you have the nWo running around backstage trying to make friendly with other guys that they've been brought into destroy? Why would you have them debut with a face type interview? Obviously after having been gone for so long it was going to be tough to get Hogan percieved as a heel, but still that was just booked wrong from the get go, they should have been booked as they were in '96 just come out and destroy everyone, take over the set, etc be the nWo!

 

[FromGlasgow]

For me the most disapointed as a fan was Wrestlemania 8 looking forward to the Hogan vs Flair match that had been building up, Savage vs Flair was great but Hogan vs Flair at that time with Hogan as the WWF world champion and Flair still the NWA world champion in kind of a battle of the world champions match could have been the match of the century.

Another one for me was Wrestlemania 18 missing out with the chance of an Austin vs Hogan match, Rock vs Hogan was still one of my favourite matches of all time and Austin vs Hall was ok but I feel Austin vs Hogan could have been so much better.

Others like the WCW invasion against WWE, Ending Goldberg's WCW streak against Nash just off the top of my head theres probably others I'm forgetting though.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

From more recent ones Wrestlemania 29 and not getting triple threat with Punk vs Rock vs Cena. Cena hadnt beaten Punk lots of times before he had beaten him on RAW before Mania to cement his place and hadnt beaten The Rock in "Once in a Lifetime" match. At Wrestlemania he could get double redemption and get both of them instead of just rematch with Rock. I mean, Cena is always about overcoming to odds so could be great story in how he managed to get both of his "nemesis" from previous year in one night.

Also from same year prior before Mania perhaps Bryan vs Rock. At RAW 1000 Rock gave Bryan wedding present with "Rock Bottom". Before that Bryan promised that someway somehow he would manage to get title till Rumble and get to that match with Rock. Would be at least good promo in that with video package from RAW 1000 and how he managed. Ofcourse that would meant heel Bryan at times when he was with Kane and started to get heavy over as "Hell No" but could work out. Always found his work as heel as underated.

I totally agree with these. Bryan/Rock was an awesome tease & it always felt like it should've gone somewhere. & as much as I enjoyed Undertaker vs. Punk at WM 29, the triple threat was even mentioned by Punk himself on Cabana's podcast as what he thought was the better booking option & I think most fans agree. Also I agree that as much as I would've loved to see Bryan vs. Lesnar at some point, due to injuries & timing it just doesn't seem like it was ever really possible.

But here are a few other more recent booking decisions that were really disappointing...

Wrestlemania 27 - WWE Championship: CM Punk vs. John Cena & Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. Christian - I love the Orton/Punk match & the Edge/Del Rio match was surprisingly good at the time & has only gotten better due to it being Edge's last match but WM 27 had a lot of issues overall & the weak World Title matches stick out to me like a sore thumb. I remember many fans wanting to see Edge vs. Chrisitian for the World Title, specifically in a Ladder Match which would've been epic & a huge call back to their attitude era days. & considering Christian went on to have his biggest run right after that & it seemed a little early for Del Rio to win the Rumble match, switching out Del Rio for Christian & having Del Rio get back involved in the WHC title picture after Edge retired seems like the ideal situation looking back. & As for Punk/Cena, the story was already in place just months prior & a lot of fans still believe Miz didn't even deserve to win the MitB briefcase, let alone main event Mania as the champion. Many even consider it one fo the worst mania main events of all time. & to put the cherry on top, Rock running in & attacking Punk & Cena instead of Miz & Cena would've been the perfect set-up for Punk to cost Cena his match with The Rock at WM 28 & ultimately lead to a Triple Threat between the three for the WWE Title as mentioned above at WM 29! That would've been a truly creative 3 year plan for Rocky.

Wrestlemania 28 - I.C. Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust with Special Guest Referee: Dusty Rhodes - This is kind of a minor one but Big Show had no business being in the IC Title picture, let alone winning the championship. Cody was basically at his peak, Goldie was just starting to return again & a simple switch of just one of the competitors would've given the fans what many still want to this day. It also would've most likely been a much better match & it also would've made for a much more memorable Mania moment.

Elimination Chamber 2014 - Chamber Match: The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family & Rematch at Wrestlemania XXX - These were two HUGELY missed opportunities IMO, surprisingly more so at EC because literally all that would've required was lowering the chamber & letting the match take place inside the structure. Sure they would've had to change the ending of the match but then that could've led to a rematch between the two teams at WM 30! Instead of the super-quick & pretty much pointless squash match with the Shield & Harper & Rowan not getting to wrestle, The Shield could've had an epic rematch beating The Wyatt's, cementing their place as top babyfaces, having a huge Mania moment (that is kind of lacking from their history) & it would've set up much better for their final epic confrontations with Evolution. Instead we got three straight 6-Man tags between the two teams, two of them occurring on TV for free & one of those was on Main Event.

Night of Champions 2015 - Sting wins the WWE Title & Sheamus Cashes In - This may seem like a weird one since it just occurred recently but considering it was probably Sting's only chance to ever win the WWE Title, he looks to be pretty banged up now & his in-ring status is in question (not to mention the WWE Title pictures looks to be extremely stale heading into HiaC), I really think this scenario should've taken place at NoC this year. Rollins' title reign has been highly criticized & I think it'd do him some good to actually lose the belt & kind of hit restart after winning it back for a 2nd reign. It would've been a much better ending to the PPV too IMO rather than just having Kane return. Also that way Sheamus could've spiced up the title picture for a month or two, lost it back to Rollins or whomever rather quickly & be done with it. Now it seems like Sheamus will hold onto the briefcase for a while & possibly even have a lengthy reign down the line.

There's also a few other scenarios that I would've liked to have seen take place by now like a Shield Triple Threat for the WWE Title that almost happened at Payback this year, Ambrose winning the World Title, etc., but they're still all very plausible for the future & the situations may have not been absolutely perfect at the time.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Wrestlemania 28 - I.C. Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust with Special Guest Referee: Dusty Rhodes - This is kind of a minor one but Big Show had no business being in the IC Title picture, let alone winning the championship. Cody was basically at his peak, Goldie was just starting to return again & a simple switch of just one of the competitors would've given the fans what many still want to this day. It also would've most likely been a much better match & it also would've made for a much more memorable Mania moment.

Couldn't disagree more this one. Why do people blindly hate The Big Show so much? He'd never won the Intercontinental Championship, and in 13 years he'd NEVER won a singles match at WrestleMania. Big Show deserved to do both, and it was an awesome WrestleMania moment to see Big Show finally get a one-on-one win at WrestleMania. Goldust didn't return for another year and a half (unless he had a one-off appearance on RAW I'm forgetting). Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show was the right match to have and Big Show winning was the right call to make.

 

[therockiswwf]

Fair points, but what about the previous year?

Simple. About to be in big movie returning Batista vs the top heel in Orton. They have a lot of history yet not many feuds (I think they had two minor feuds).

Easy to see why Vince thought that would work and it's not like Bryan was not going to be at Mania without being in the main event.

 

[relentless1]

nWo vs Wolfpac - what a waste, they should have fought each other gang war style. No Sting or Luger but bring some up and comers into the Wolfpac like Booker T to get some new blood into the main event scene. End it with a winner take all War Games match

nWo in WWE... why turn Hogan face? Why have Hall lose to Austin? why have Hall face Austin in the first place, he couldn't even take Halls finisher! Austin face status would have been best to put with Hollywood Hogan as far as trying to keep him heel is concerned, the crowd was way less likely to turn on Austin than Rock.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

I have to strongly disagree with that one. Yeah, a lot of fans were pissed so you're on point for the OP, but having Triple H retain was 100% the right call to make. No heel had EVER left WrestleMania as the WWE Champion. It had to happen at some point, and Triple H was the right guy to do it.

Why was HHH the right guy to do it?

We'd just had the perfect build with Th Rock promising to win the rumble and doing it by lastly eliminating the Big Show only to then be screwed at NWO. Then we get The Rock inserted back in to the match only to be screwed by the guy who was meant to be in his corner. It was stupid overbooking.

If they wanted Vince to still screw The Rock then the best way to do it would have been to have him turn only for Austin to come out (as he did at Backlash) and make the save.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

While I personally enjoyed the surprise and always have wanted to see somebody end it, Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker's streak robbed a want from about 95% of wrestling fans, seeing The Undertaker retire still undefeated at WrestleMania

I'm not sure about 95% of fans wanting to see him retire at 'Mania undefeated but I can guarantee you it robbed all wrestling fans of wanting to see Cena Vs 'Taker at 'Mania

 

[Goldie]

HBK going over Bulldog in his home country. Yes, that served a major purpose, but the live crowd was pissed as fuck.

This also stuck in my head.

After the match there was genuine raw emotion that the crowd were upset- as Shawn, Hunter and Chyna were pelted with rubbish.

Davey had dedicated the match to his dieing cancer stricken sister in the British press beforehand... thinking he was going over (the golden rule was that Davey never lost in his native UK). Shawn changed the booking plans so when Davey lost the crowd was infuriated... not to mention Daveys sister who was in floods of tears as Shawn hosed down the Smiths on the microphone, and died soon afterwards.
Its a sad match to watch as the outcome was so political... and Shawn didn't really need the European title.... losing it in a joke -non-match where he literally gave the belt to Hunter without a fight.

To make matter worse- Shawn, Hunter; Chyna and Rude all attacked Davey so it was 4 on 1... and it was only AFTER the match that the Hart Foundation finally came to Daveys rescue after the crowd had been roaring for them to come and make the save. Even in his book Bret alludes to this- that he felt the Harts let the English fans down.

It also signalled the beginning of the end of Daveys career. Deeply hurt for letting down his sister and his British fans- he was never really the same again as drugs, injuries and WCW ruined his career.

 

[WhiplashUnited]

Hogan v Flair at Wrestlemania 8 d and Hogan v Bret Hart efinitely near the top of my list from childhood.

After watching JBL's interview with Bischoff, and I know this isn't technically a booking thing, but Vince turning up and kicking Bischoff's ass would have been a ratings bonanza.

In a reverse kind of way Barrett winning king of the ring deprived the fans of a very over Bad News Barrett.

The finger poke of doom had nothing to do with people changing the channel, they were winning the ratings that night until Bischoff told Schiavone to give away that Mankind would win the WWF Title in a pre recorded match.

CM Punk main eventing Wrestlemania. Champ for 434 days but was always being shunted from the main event (going on last) was BS.

I agree with Goldust v Stardust. It was organically built then just as it looked like a match was on the cards they put Stardust in a title match it didn't make sense for him to be in.

One bit of booking that made no sense to me was when Hogan lost the WCW title to Goldberg I don't ever remember Hogan wanting a rematch against Goldberg for the World Title. Instead Hogan does back to back tag matches againsg celebrities (Malone and Jay Leno.) There was definitely money in a Goldberg v Hogan rematch.

The longer Goldberg was undefeated the less people would care because you basically beat every single person in the company, then what? He never lost the title cleanly, should have built for the Hogan v Goldberg at Souled Out.

 

[Just Do It]

Goldberg losing the winning streak to Kevin Nash. It's irrelevant who took the streak, the fact is fans loved seeing Goldberg smash through everybody and they were paying money to see him do it.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Why was HHH the right guy to do it?

We'd just had the perfect build with Th Rock promising to win the rumble and doing it by lastly eliminating the Big Show only to then be screwed at NWO. Then we get The Rock inserted back in to the match only to be screwed by the guy who was meant to be in his corner. It was stupid overbooking.

If they wanted Vince to still screw The Rock then the best way to do it would have been to have him turn only for Austin to come out (as he did at Backlash) and make the save.

Triple H was the right guy to do it because he was the #1 heel of the Attitude Era and beyond. Babyfaces coming out on top all the time at WrestleMania is one of WWE's biggest weaknesses. Heel champions were consistently losing at WrestleMania, every single year. It was predictable and boring. Triple H winning the match, after overcoming two of WWE's top babyfaces as well as Big Show, gave him an amazing WrestleMania moment, despite being tainted by Vince's interference. Since then, heels have occasionally been able to win WrestleMania main event matches, making the event much more interesting. There was no reason for Triple H not to retain at WrestleMania 16.

 

[therockiswwf]

Triple H was the right guy to do it because he was the #1 heel of the Attitude Era and beyond. Babyfaces coming out on top all the time at WrestleMania is one of WWE's biggest weaknesses. Heel champions were consistently losing at WrestleMania, every single year. It was predictable and boring. Triple H winning the match, after overcoming two of WWE's top babyfaces as well as Big Show, gave him an amazing WrestleMania moment, despite being tainted by Vince's interference. Since then, heels have occasionally been able to win WrestleMania main event matches, making the event much more interesting. There was no reason for Triple H not to retain at WrestleMania 16.

Actually the reason HHH retained was so they could get another big match for Backlash. I think Foley said this in his book. Vince thought that the multi-man match would draw and then they could do one-on-one match for the title next month and get more buys.

Heels are built to be stopped. Wrestling is very simple, the good guy always wins in the end. A heel winning all the time and a face always losing makes the face look really bad. Heels can absorb losing big matches while faces have a much tougher time absorbing failure.

Ryback is a perfect example. He was white hot against CM Punk and The Shield. He continually kept losing to them and it killed his momentum.

It is one of the biggest problems TNA had in the past. A heel would dominate for so long that when he finally did get beat, people had already lost interest (Roode vs Storm, that feud killed Storm).

 

[Aquaman6686]

Actually the reason HHH retained was so they could get another big match for Backlash. I think Foley said this in his book. Vince thought that the multi-man match would draw and then they could do one-on-one match for the title next month and get more buys.

Heels are built to be stopped. Wrestling is very simple, the good guy always wins in the end. A heel winning all the time and a face always losing makes the face look really bad. Heels can absorb losing big matches while faces have a much tougher time absorbing failure.

Ryback is a perfect example. He was white hot against CM Punk and The Shield. He continually kept losing to them and it killed his momentum.

It is one of the biggest problems TNA had in the past. A heel would dominate for so long that when he finally did get beat, people had already lost interest (Roode vs Storm, that feud killed Storm).

Ryback's winning streak itself is why he became irrelevant. One of WWE's most idiotic tendencies is giving people winning streaks that go on way too long. Ryback was billed as unbeatable. The INSTANT he lose, he became irrelevant. Nobody cared about him anymore. The exact same thing happened to Rusev. As soon as he lost, he was meaningless, and it's because he never lost before.

WWE's overreliance on unbeatable babyfaces is their greatest weakness. You said "wrestling is very simple, the good guy always wins in the end". Wrong. WWE is always that simple, and it's their weakness. Heels need to win more, and faces need to lose more. That's what WCW had so right and WWE had so wrong. Then WCW made the mistake of trying to copy what WWE was doing, and it destroyed their company. WWE needs to build more strong heels.

 

[therockiswwf]

Ryback's winning streak itself is why he became irrelevant. One of WWE's most idiotic tendencies is giving people winning streaks that go on way too long. Ryback was billed as unbeatable. The INSTANT he lose, he became irrelevant. Nobody cared about him anymore. The exact same thing happened to Rusev. As soon as he lost, he was meaningless, and it's because he never lost before.

WWE's overreliance on unbeatable babyfaces is their greatest weakness. You said "wrestling is very simple, the good guy always wins in the end". Wrong. WWE is always that simple, and it's their weakness. Heels need to win more, and faces need to lose more. That's what WCW had so right and WWE had so wrong. Then WCW made the mistake of trying to copy what WWE was doing, and it destroyed their company. WWE needs to build more strong heels.

Ryback did not become irrelevant the moment he lost, he became irrelevant because he couldn't beat Punk and couldn't overcome The Shield. He faced them both multiple times and always lost. People won't stay behind a guy who continually fails. Ryback continually failed and that just killed him.

Rusev is in the midcard, which is where he should be. Rusev has always been in the midcard. Him losing changed nothing.

Hogan dominating for so long worked because everyone knew it was building to Sting taking them down. Then when they finally got to the event, Sting won but got his ass kicked (and technically lost). Anyways, people wanted to see Sting defeat the NWO and Hogan. Hogan was built up to lose.

 

[LBGetBack]

We were never slated for a Savage-Steamboat rematch at WM 4. The original plan for WM 4 was for Savage to win the I-C title from the Honky Tonk Man, but Honky refused to drop the title (he was negotiating to go to WCW, and felt having the title increased his bargaining position), so to keep Savage happy, they had him win the World title tournament instead of their original choice, Ted DiBiase.

A better example of robbing fans of what they wanted to see would be WrestleMania 7. With the show slated to take place at the LA Coliseum, fans expected the main event to be a rematch of Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior from WM 6, and that was the plan at one point. In January 1991, with Desert Storm going on, Vince decided instead to have Sgt. Slaughter (who was now playing an Iraqi sympathizer) beat Warrior for the title. Immediately afterwards, ticket demand for WM 7 plummeted to almost nil. The LA Coliseum could hold 100,000 people (keep in mind, there was no stage at shows back then), but they had only sold 20,000 tickets. Because of that, for "security reasons", the show had to be moved to the LA Forum.

Another one would be WrestleMania 8. The main event was supposed to be Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF title, a match-up fans had been dreaming about for years. For whatever reason, they changed it to Hogan vs. Sid, and Flair defending the title against Randy Savage. Some say the reason for the change was because the WWF did Hogan vs. Flair at all the house shows that winter, killing the "once in a lifetime" vibe a WM match between the two would have had. Others have said it was because Hogan announced he would retire at WM 8, and Vince didn't want to let him go out as champion.

????

Greg Valentine beat Ricky Steamboat in the WM4 tournament, and advanced on to face Randy Savage.

It would've been an easy enough decision to have Steamboat win the match and face Savage in the 2nd round. What's the difference? Savage was winning anyway......so why not give the fans the better match and the rematch?

 

[Goldie]

It would've been an easy enough decision to have Steamboat win the match and face Savage in the 2nd round. What's the difference? Savage was winning anyway......so why not give the fans the better match and the rematch?

Steamboat and Savage were both babyfaces in an era where it was exceptionally rare for 2 babyfaces to face each other.
That entire WM4 tournament had a babyface vs heel every match... its just the way things were done in those days.
Plus squeezing so many tournament matches on a single card would rapidly reduce the match time in many given cases.

Don't get me wrong- it would have been awesome having a Savage-Steamboat rematch... just stating why the booker (or Mr Patterson) might not have considered it.

 

[Pérez84]

Steamboat and Savage were both babyfaces in an era where it was exceptionally rare for 2 babyfaces to face each other.
That entire WM4 tournament had a babyface vs heel every match... its just the way things were done in those days.
Plus squeezing so many tournament matches on a single card would rapidly reduce the match time in many given cases.

That basically are the reasons to not book a Savage-Steamboat rematch. Also they wanted Savage beating 4 heels in a row in order to conquer the world championship glory. Steamboat wasn't a heel so he had to lose against a heel sooner or later.