Could the Impossible Have Happened?

[DarksideEric]

Here's a big, big "What If?"

Go back to the 90s.

WWF had the Attitude Era with people like Austin, Rock, Degeneration-X, etc.

WCW had the nWo Invasion starring Hogan, Hall and Nash.

Now, what's the "What If?"

Swap them.

Could, in any way, shape or form, WWF have done the nWo back then? Not with Hogan, Hall and Nash mind you, but with their own stars. Could the WWF conceivably create an nWo storyline with say a team of Hart (or Michaels), Austin and Rock, or lower card guys to raise them up?

Could WCW have taken someone like... say Jericho and started a Degeneration-X type group that hit the same heights WWF's DX did? Could Sting have been elevated to an Austin level? Goldberg to a Rock level?

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I'm going to say no...

As far as The nWo goes, it wasn't that the group was invading, it was that it was a group of WWF guys invading. What made the nWo so popular was that it was a taste of The WWF vs. WCW dream feud that we never actually got to see. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (more Nash) have recently said that Hogan almost ruined the angle. They were going for something new and unseen while Hogan was cutting old school promos. For The WWF to pull it off, they would have to have guys come from WCW who could shake the old school way of doing things, and I don't think there was anyone big enough who would have fit that bill.

As for WCW making it's own DX, that's kind of what nWo was... DX was The WWF version of The nWo.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

WWF kind of did the "WCW invasion" angle with Ric Flair in 1991. It obviously took a different course than the nWo, but the idea of the WCW/NWA champion showing up in the WWF is essentially the same type of angle. It would have been very interesting if before we knew it, Luger and Sting showed up in WWF also (Luger did shortly after, but not as part of any angle). This would have been compelling television, regardless of which company was running it and who's stars were defecting. Could they have pulled it off in the mid-late 90s? Who knows. WCW didn't have any new stars in 1996 for WWF to take. It was all Hogan, Flair, Savage, Luger, Sting and Giant. Maybe Sting and Giant. Also, in 2001 we saw how a WCW invasion of WWF would have gone anyways.

As for WCW, the nWo and the Wolfpac basically were D-Generation X. It's all the kliq. Instead of Triple H and Shawn it was Hall and Nash. X-Pac was lucky enough to be in both at their height of popularity. Likewise, Sting and Goldberg both did reach Austin levels of popularity, if at least for a short period of time. However, I don't think the Bischoff era in WCW was bold enough or had enough foresight to push a whole bunch of new stars to the moon. I mean Vince took guys like Jericho and Giant from Bischoff and made them bigger. Could WCW have accomplished any of this without the nWo trigger? Maybe not. Maybe wrestling never evolves into the attitude era, period, without the nWo angle.

 

[Jaffa]

I'm going to say no simply by the very definition that the impossible could not happen and that is why it is impossible not improbable.

But no I think Bischoff wasn't willing to push guys like Jericho, Eddie etc. and that was why they all went to WWF.

 

[fenderjapan]

In order for the NWO angle to have worked in WWF, they would have had to have swiped the top star from WCW. So basically if Sting jumped ship to WWF as face and then turned heel by coming to aid a heel tag team. Theoretically they would have also needed two other big stars to jump ship as well, to play the Nash and Hall... I can't think of two equal WCW stars in the mid 90's that hadn't come from the WWF. Maybe Vader, Ron Simmons, Cactus Jack. but I just can't really see it happening.

It wouldn't have had the same impact, because Sting wasn't as big as Hogan.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

No, they could not have. Here's the thing, Bischoff stole the idea from Japan. Vince's ego would never have let him take his top angle from any recent history of any other company.

 

[Slash-LN]

I guess WWF could have had a group called the NWO and WCW could have had a group called Degeneration X but I don't think it would have worked the same way it did in either company.

Both groups were made up of the right people. They were believable in their roles because essentially is was everyone just being who they were.

Hall and Nash had said that WCW let them be Hall and Nash. They weren't restricted. They said WWF was the closest thing to that as Diesel and Razor but The Outsiders and later NWO were 100% them.

NWO obviously had the big swerve with Hogan and as fenderjapan said it probably wouldn't have worked as well with another wrestler.

Both versions of DX had the right people. They all meshed together.

All in all a lot of stuff would have had to play out right. Now only would WWF need that big star to make the shocking turn but they would have needed two guys to come in from WCW that people cared about so they could have run that initial Outsiders angle to lead up to the NWO.

 

[JJ15776]

This is pretty straight forward, I think everyone else has nailed it.

The WWF doing the nWo storyline would be impossible because they didn't have anybody to do it. Hart and HBK were already in the WWF so they couldn't invade, Rock had never been on television outside of Miami football games, and Austin was just an angry guy from WCW via ECW, why would anybody care if he invaded? I guess if Lex Luger had stuck around, and then they brought in Sting and Vader as invaders, then Luger joined them...but Luger, Sting, and Vader still aren't Hogan, Hall, and Nash.

As for the WCW doing DX, sure it's possible..areally, any wrestling company in the world could do DX under the right circumstances with the right wrestlers. Guys like Eddie G and Chris Jericho obviously had superstar potential(even though WCW never recognized it or were unable to capitalize on it), I'm sure they could've thrived in a situation like that.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I, like the others will have to say no.

Hulk Hogan in the Red and Yellow walking down the isle, got people excited to think that there was hope for Team WCW to pull through, and he was going to beat down Hall and Nash. Hogan for the last 12 years has been the biggest face in industry.

The Prayers, the vitamins, the Red and Yellow was thrown out that night. Hogan said the fans can stick it.

The non-wrestling fan was talking about that the next day. Hell, Regis and Kathy Lee talked about it. It was a very big deal.

No one else could of pulled that off. Austin turned on Team WWF at Invasion. The Rock turned on Mankind at Survivor Series '98 (Granted his Heel turn in 2003 was very good).

In addition to that, Vince McMahon was too big on characters that attracted the kids. Granted HBK and Bret Hart had more realistic gimmicks. Yet, Earthquake and Typhon were around. Hell, Coco B. Ware was running down the isle with a bird. So with that being said....

I wouldn't want to see how Vince McMahon would of handled the nWo angle if he had the opportunity. I think he would of done the Dungeon of Doom, but twice as worse.

 

[Dagger Dias]

WWF would never have done an nWo storyline. No one on the roster would have been able to pull it off. Plus, it required turning their biggest face heel. This is something the WWF would absolutely never have done. Plus they did not have Hogan at this time. A big factor in why the nWo angle worked so well was because Hogan did the unthinkable when he became a heel. There is no conceivable way that the angle could have happened outside of WCW without Hogan, let alone worked out well.

As far as WCW doing a DX type of group rather than the one we got in the WWF.... That is a whole lot more possible than a WWF counterpart to the nWo would have been. Someone like Jericho or Sting could have led it, although I struggle to think of how they would have been able to make it work. DX did fantastic, and part of that was due to the real life friendships of the members. The group would have needed to include members who work well together, preferably legitimate friends like the real DX had. That being said, I do not think it would have reached the heights that the WWF DX did. It would require the previously mentioned members who work well together and an equally strong stable for them to feud with.... and in this scenario there is no nWo. Few heel groups could have given a WCW DX the angle that it would need in order to work.

Both are great "what if's" but I doubt either could have taken place successfully, or at all for that matter.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I gotta agree with Raven here...it's not like the WWF didn't have opportunities to create similar situations with Flair, Luger, and later the 2001 Invasion angle. And well...they dropped the ball. I mean, they had Flair and Luger together in early 1993! Had they worked out whatever contractual issues there may've been with Flair, you nearly had the Four Horsemen invading the WWF.

 

[FlairFan2003]

No, they could not have. Here's the thing, Bischoff stole the idea from Japan. Vince's ego would never have let him take his top angle from any recent history of any other company.

Most of Vince's best angles in the 80s were stolen from other companies...The Hart Foundation-British Bulldogs feud was his attempt to recreate The Midnight Express - Rock & Roll Express fued, The Bobby Heenan Family was WWE's version of The Four Horsemen, Ted DiBiase was in part based on Ric Flair...The Demolition team was a blatant rip off of The Road Warriors...

Anyway, for an Now angle to have worked in reverse you would two major WCW stars to start the "Invasion"...Sting was obviously huge but he was also well established as clean cut hero type. Remember, Nash & Hall were "tweener" characters who bounced back and forth but were more heel than fan fav so believing they could start the "Invasion" and try to destroy WCW wasn't as far fethched. Lex Luger had only been out of WWE for less than year when the Now started so if we are talking the same time frame that wouldn't have worked, he was just there. Flair had been gone for a few years, he could have been the anchor. Still, he would have needed a partner, someone well known, even if more of mid carder like Hall, it might have been interesting if The Giant had joined him, he wasn't as well established but he had awesome size and great look, Arn Anderson probably made the most sense. Hogan & Savage wouldn't have worked because they were WWE guys before, it would be like homecoming for them (Granted, Nash started in WCW but he never was over, Hall's Razor Ramoan gimmick was a clear take off by WWE of Hall's Diamond Stud WCW character, but that gimmick never got off the ground in WCW and wasn't well remembered).

Once the two WCW guys jumped you would have needed the "Surprise Turn", the shock like when Hogan turned heel and joined them. At that time in WWE, with both Hogan & Savage in WCW, the only guy who was popular enough and credible enough as a fan fav to make the "turn" was Brett Hart.

Now, you can argue that if say Flair & Giant or better Flair & Anderson made the jump and started the Invasion of WWE it would have been as interesting and compelling as Nash & Hall in WCW, assuming WWE played it as two WCW stars coming in to take over the company the way WCW played the Invasion storyline. You can also argue that collectively Flair & Anderson were bigger names than Hall & Nash with wrestling fans in general. However, there is no one on the WWE roster that could have generated the buzz and the heat by turning on WWE in 1996 that Hogan generated with his heel turn, which really took the Invasion to a whole new level. Brett Hart turning on the fans would have been a surprise, and those three in the ring would have formed a far better nucleus from a ring performance stand point than Nash, Hall, & Hogan did, but the shock waves and interest caused by Hogan's heel turn could never have been duplicated by Hart (or anyone else in WWE at the time) because they simply weren't big enough stars. You can argue that in 1996 Flair was bigger than anyone on the WWE roster so anyone who joined them would have been icing on the cake, it wouldn't have made the cake. Hogan was bigger at that time than just about everybody in the industry and was as well established as a fan fav as any wrestler ever was with the mass audience. Hart would not have generated the same electricity.

Could an angle like that have worked...Yes, but it wouldn't have been as big as the WCW version.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I gotta agree with Raven here...it's not like the WWF didn't have opportunities to create similar situations with Flair, Luger, and later the 2001 Invasion angle. And well...they dropped the ball. I mean, they had Flair and Luger together in early 1993! Had they worked out whatever contractual issues there may've been with Flair, you nearly had the Four Horsemen invading the WWF.

Now could you imagine that angle? The Four Horsemen (or a version of them) invading the WWF in the early 90's? I think that could have the potential to actually have been bigger than the NWO. It could have changed the business. Or at least extended the golden age the WWF was experiencing at the time, rather than how quickly it fizzled out in 1992.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

No.

The biggest star in wrestling was in WCW at the time. He was the most recognized babyface in history. He was the catalyst for everything- he gave rise to attitude wrestling, the nWo, the ratings tipping in WCW's favor, etc.

WWF had no one at the time that could have done that. Nobody was built like Hogan was built and if they came close, they had already jumped ship.

The reason the nWo was so successful was because Hogan turning heel was the biggest swerve ever done. WWF could have started an all-powerful stable, but they had no one with Hogan's caliber leading it.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Most of Vince's best angles in the 80s were stolen from other companies...The Hart Foundation-British Bulldogs feud was his attempt to recreate The Midnight Express - Rock & Roll Express fued, The Bobby Heenan Family was WWE's version of The Four Horsemen, Ted DiBiase was in part based on Ric Flair...The Demolition team was a blatant rip off of The Road Warriors...

Anyway, for an Now angle to have worked in reverse you would two major WCW stars to start the "Invasion"...Sting was obviously huge but he was also well established as clean cut hero type. Remember, Nash & Hall were "tweener" characters who bounced back and forth but were more heel than fan fav so believing they could start the "Invasion" and try to destroy WCW wasn't as far fethched. Lex Luger had only been out of WWE for less than year when the Now started so if we are talking the same time frame that wouldn't have worked, he was just there. Flair had been gone for a few years, he could have been the anchor. Still, he would have needed a partner, someone well known, even if more of mid carder like Hall, it might have been interesting if The Giant had joined him, he wasn't as well established but he had awesome size and great look, Arn Anderson probably made the most sense. Hogan & Savage wouldn't have worked because they were WWE guys before, it would be like homecoming for them (Granted, Nash started in WCW but he never was over, Hall's Razor Ramoan gimmick was a clear take off by WWE of Hall's Diamond Stud WCW character, but that gimmick never got off the ground in WCW and wasn't well remembered).

Once the two WCW guys jumped you would have needed the "Surprise Turn", the shock like when Hogan turned heel and joined them. At that time in WWE, with both Hogan & Savage in WCW, the only guy who was popular enough and credible enough as a fan fav to make the "turn" was Brett Hart.

Now, you can argue that if say Flair & Giant or better Flair & Anderson made the jump and started the Invasion of WWE it would have been as interesting and compelling as Nash & Hall in WCW, assuming WWE played it as two WCW stars coming in to take over the company the way WCW played the Invasion storyline. You can also argue that collectively Flair & Anderson were bigger names than Hall & Nash with wrestling fans in general. However, there is no one on the WWE roster that could have generated the buzz and the heat by turning on WWE in 1996 that Hogan generated with his heel turn, which really took the Invasion to a whole new level. Brett Hart turning on the fans would have been a surprise, and those three in the ring would have formed a far better nucleus from a ring performance stand point than Nash, Hall, & Hogan did, but the shock waves and interest caused by Hogan's heel turn could never have been duplicated by Hart (or anyone else in WWE at the time) because they simply weren't big enough stars. You can argue that in 1996 Flair was bigger than anyone on the WWE roster so anyone who joined them would have been icing on the cake, it wouldn't have made the cake. Hogan was bigger at that time than just about everybody in the industry and was as well established as a fan fav as any wrestler ever was with the mass audience. Hart would not have generated the same electricity.

Could an angle like that have worked...Yes, but it wouldn't have been as big as the WCW version.

I'm going to go with, you've watched DVDs but didn't growup watching any of what you just referred to. Ok, I'll half agree with Demoition. The Harts vs Bulldogs was nothing like the Rock n Roll/ME feud. Comparing the Heenan family to the Horsemen is pure ignorance. Heenan was central in the family and JJ was in the background. The Heenan family never had the ONE guy, with a supporting cast. Bobby's family was the sum of its parts where the Horsemen were a unit. To compare Dibiase to Flair is inane....different styles, gimmicks, everything. The only similarity might be the reference to money, but that's it.

 

[cmiller4642]

If Hogan stayed in the WWF at that time in his career I think that Vince would have continued to have him feud with big guys. I'm sure Diesel and Hogan would have been a feud that Vince would have set up.

 

[dWs]

I gotta agree with Raven here...it's not like the WWF didn't have opportunities to create similar situations with Flair, Luger, and later the 2001 Invasion angle. And well...they dropped the ball. I mean, they had Flair and Luger together in early 1993! Had they worked out whatever contractual issues there may've been with Flair, you nearly had the Four Horsemen invading the WWF.

Agree with your agreement! Go back a little bit earlier, 1989, and you had 3 of the Four Horsemen (Anderson, Blanchard and Windham) in the WWF, less than a year after they all held titles in NWA/JCP.