Great moments that could have been better/were ruined

[DarkLordFett]

I was just watching 'The Rise and Fall of WCW' and they got to Goldberg's joining the company. I didn't know that at the same time, he was being courted by WWF. It was an "11th hour call from Bischoff" that sent Bill to WCW. Because of the WCW Powerplant and the trainers they had there that pretty much made Goldberg, the character.

So, Goldberg could have been horribly ruined if it weren't for a late call from 'Easy E'.

Then there was the whole 'Fingerpoke of Doom' thing........

 

[d_henderson1810]

I thought the night that they introduced a Raw GM for the first time was somewhat ruined.

Vince announced that Raw would have a GM to be revealed later that night. The anticipation built. Would it be lame, or someone really good? Well, it turned out to be Eric Bischoff, which would have been a great moment, except that they had a segment beforehand where Eric Bischoff walked past Booker T and Sharmell.

So, they gave away the identity of the GM before the announcement, just so Booker T could see Eric Bischoff walk past and then Booker say:"I didn't see that! Tell me, I didn't just see THAT!"

It would have been a much bigger moment if Bischoff had not been revealed until he walked out on stage when Vince announced the new Raw GM. A moment ruined so that Booker T could use the same old catchphrase.

 

[justtxyank]

This was never as big of a deal to me as others make it out to be. I think his exact words were "Who is he with?" with Tony responding with "What?". And that was it. He didn't really spoil anything and I was legitimately surprised at the time still. Brain was an excellent commentator and I hate to think that this is his defining moment.

I honestly think this is one of those things that didn't matter at all at the time but has become a big deal after some internet fans started saying it ruined it for them after hearing it talked about on a shoot or something and others jumped on board to be cool. That moment was not ruined whatsoever by Bobby Heenan. Heenan was a heel announcer who hated Hogan. Was he supposed to be saying "Yippee here comes Hulk!"

 

[Mustang Sally]

A moment that COULD have been great but was ruined.. because it NEVER happened.. would be Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII.

In the same vein, one of the moments that could have been....well, momentous.....featured the same two guys.

When Hogan first joined WCW in 1994, they had him defeat Ric Flair for the world title in his debut match. What a stinkin' waste of what could have been the greatest build-up in pro wrestling history.

God forbid they should have Hogan work his way up the ladder in WCW, doing his American hero schtick while climbing the rungs by beating the company's best. Every week, he could've been knocking off a top contender, increasing the clamor for him to face off with Flair.

Instead, Hogan wins the title on his first night, confirming the notion that not only was he held in higher regard than anyone else in the organization.....but that even the immortal Ric Flair would be used as a sacrificial lamb to Hogan. Obviously, there was no doubt who was going to win the match; they hadn't brought in Hogan to lose on his first night, that was for damn sure.

But what a build-up it could have been. The greatest ever in WCW versus the greatest ever in WWE.....a precursor of the notion Scott Hall was claiming a few years later. It could have been fantastic with a program leading up to it. Instead, it was as anti-climactic a farce as there ever was.

As always, I wonder whether this was something the creative people in WCW came up with.....or did Hogan demand it as a condition of his joining the company? ("Brother, the 24-inch pythons ain't coming to WCW unless the Hulkster wins the belt on the first night!")

Either way, it sucked.....especially in view of what could have been

 

[FlairFan2003]

One thing that sticks in my mind is Bret Harts debut in WCW. After the Montreal Screwjob he had a lot of momentum and WCW should have used that to some degree.But they completely misused him for his entire time there up until his career ending injury.

WCW screwed up half the roster back then. Its true after Montreal Hart was never hotter, he would have been a great addition to team WCW in the fight vs NwO, which should have lead to real PPV Hart-Hogan match and feud.

My choice though in WCW was Goldberg's title win. The streak was hot, he was more popular than anyone at the time other than Austin, and they waste his title shot against the company's biggest name & lead heel Hogan on Nitro. I could actually live with that, adding to the unpredictability of his character, but his downgrade and burial afterwards was stupid. Over the following 5 months Goldberg took a back seat to Hogan\NwO feuds at every PPV until he lost at Starrcade. As the company's World Champ and most popular star he should not have been in secondary matches in PPVs in Aug & Sept behind Hogan, only to share main event status at Halloween Havoc. Goldberg was not a factor in the top tier of the WCW-NwO feud after his title win and for most of his reign was not center stage in top angles. He was probably treated better before his win than during his reign.
The only time during his 1st title run he was a major player in the storyline was heading into his loss to Nash. Inexplicably, afterwards he was dropped into the mid card. The whole NWO re formation and Hogan return set in motion by his title loss in theory should have established Goldberg vs NWO as a huge story, there should have been a huge build to GB vs Nash II as a lead in to GB vs Hogan II. Instead we got GB vs designated NWO jobber Scott Hall, while WCW alienated fans by having Hogan screwjob Flair, then disbanded the NwO altogether, furthering pushing Goldberg down the card. From the time he won the belt Goldberg became the poster child for how WCW upset and drove away fans with one poorly planned angle and match finish after another. This wasted opportunity not only cheapened the impact, lessened thd impact of GBs huge title win but it left potential millions on the table in lost revenue.

 

[MTL722]

All these ladder matches being said reminded me of one of the most obvious mess-ups WWE has had in a while

Eddie Guerrero Vs Rey Mysterio at Summerslam 2005 for the custody of Dominick. WWE hasn't had a feud this personal in years. It felt real even though it was obvious that Rey would win. The match had a ton of botches that made the match even crazier to watch.

What hurt this match in my opinion was Vickie missing her cue to come down and cost Eddie the match. Eddie was literally just standing on top of the ladder with Rey trapped underneath it. After an extremely awkward wait Rey wiggled himself out from underneath the ladder and pulled Eddie off the title by his feet, nearly breaking Eddies leg

Great match to watch especially with such a personal stipulation, but that one spot is always what I remember

FlairFan23 brought up Goldbergs reign as a big disappointing but the biggest screwup WCW made with Goldberg wasnt his reign. It was the fact that JJ Dillon announced on Thunder that Goldberg would face Hogan for the belt on Nitro on what was I believe 3 or 4 days notice. IMO it was WCW's single stupidest decision in its history. The biggest draw you have, Hulk Hogan, versus the hottest name in the business, Goldberg, and you have them faceoff for the WHC for free on less then a weeks build. That was WCW in a nutshell

 

[XXJJ]

Jericho's return last year. I cant believe they wasted those awesome cryptic vignettes on him. Nothing about those vignettes fit Jericho.

Grisham ruined Christian return. I know Christian is just a midcarder, but he acted like Christian was gone for only a week or two. That's a spot where you miss JR. He would made it feel like a special moment.

 

[tvcolosi]

Top 5 moment in wrestling was ruined, acidently, by Bobby Heenan. Bash at the Beach 1996 in the 6 man tag. Hogan is power walking too the ring, Dusty and Schivone are going ape sh*t. Then it happens;

"Yeah, but whos side is he on?!?" the furthest thought in anyones head, and he planted the seed. Then I thought it was possible, and I never thought it could happen.

If you notice when WWE replays that clip the have editied that line out.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I think a few are missing the point of the thread. Its not about big direction problems, its the lil things that take away.

One of my big ones, is when Edge turned in his Money in the Bank at NYR against Cena. Vince's announcement of that was horrible. He took away all the drama.

It would have been more epic, if Edge's music just hit. We didn't need the 3 minutes long explaination from Vince.

WrestleMania 10- After Owen beat Bret, he had this big glob of snot on his nose. That always bothered me.

Thank you, Outsider, for being one of the very few who understood my post. Owen's snot is a perfect example! Should have been a bigger deal...if I wasn't distracted/sickened. Haha! Very good example!

Most of the other readers OF COURSE miss the point and go back to complaining about booking and writing, which was clearly not what I meant.

As for Heenan's call not bothering some of you, that's fine! But, I sure as hell didn't REALIZE it ruined it after the IWC tore it apart...I knew it live. Like some others have said, Heenan's innocent comment (check my name, dummies, I'm obviously a fan) planted the seed...whereas it would have shocked more people had he not said it. Good for him that most of you are morons and don't see why him doing so would lead intelligent people to think that way. I forget who the audience is sometimes....see the responses above answering a question I never asked.

Good job, Outsider and some others....most of you though...so illiterate, it's sad. Good luck in life!

 

[THTRobtaylor]

There are a lot:-

Randy Savages WWF title wins - both times they were botched but the first was more down to Hogan's ego. There was no reason for Hogan to interfere in that main event at WM4, or even be involved in the tourney - he and Andre could have rematched with careers on the line in a seperate match. by getting involved Hogan took the spotlight away from Savage and while the Mega Powers resulted, Savage never got that pure rub. His 2nd was overshadowed by Flair's ridiculous blade job and the stupid selling of the knee injury.

Perfect's return - When Perfect returned in 1992 to team with Randy against Flair and Razor, it was totally underwhelming, mainly because they had put a debuting Razor in the match rather than a serious heel. Roddy Piper was doing next to nothing at the time, having only been the IC title holder 3 months earlier, could they not have turned him heel? It would have made a much more exciting match up... of course Flair was on the outs by then and working notice till January, but it had a knock on effect for that whole 3 months, it made Bret's first title win poor as it was never televised, Perfect didn't get the correct rub from the "Loser Leaves Town" match and instead of Perfect moving into the main event with Bret, we got him vs Lex Luger, which led to... ugh

Nexus' beating Cena - We had spent months with Nexus dominating and it was ripe for a twist, that Cena was going to turn heel the moment he was forced into joining Nexus as was the plan all along. By not going there, they made the rest of the Nexus angle pointless and their fall inevitable and underwhelming, sure they have gotten 3 main event level guys out of it in Ryback, Bryan and Barrett but WWE could have really gone places with Cena at the helm of Nexus.

Chris Jericho's first title win - Triple H is a fan of this angle and has used it a few times, while it made sense with Jeff Hardy and Shelton Benjamin it really did not make sense the first time when Chris Jericho beat him for the WWF title on RAW.

Y2J was the most over face behind the Rock and Austin and was primed for a great run with both men over the belt but they went with the ridiculous "Trips bullies the ref into changing his mind" which derailed any momentum Jericho had gained. Could they not have had him keep it for 3 weeks and lose it on the PPV? I get they were playing up the McMahon Helmsley era but at the same time there were some things they couldn't do... Sure Y2J got some payback but again, him winning the Undisputed title wasn't quite as big as it should have been, I got the feeling both Rock and Austin sabotaged him in that run up rather than propel him into the main event and forcing the "cowardly heel" that of course, again got fed to Triple H. Jericho could have been a massively over face had they not stopped him talking/personalised intros the moment he started to feud with the Rock.

William Regal's King Of the Ring/Blackout - Who else has ever dared to take RAW off the air? While I am sure his wellness violation ruined it I still think his push should have remained and Regal should have put himself into the World title picture. That angle had so much potential but they seemed to hold back on it even before the violation broke.

The Rocker's Reunion - It was a brilliant moment to see Shawn and Marty reuinite to face La Resistance, so good in fact I never understood why they didn't stay together for a while, as by all accounts Shawn was open to it. At least long enough to get that elusive Tag Title they never had... I guess Marty must have really cocked it up.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

The first thing I thought of was the ending of the Brock Lesnar/Kurt Angle Mania XXIX match. It was a perfect match that would have been that much better had Angle been about a foot nearer so Brock would have landed the moonsault clean.

Still a great match, but had that move had been executed it would have been an all time classic.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

The first thing I thought of was the ending of the Brock Lesnar/Kurt Angle Mania XXIX match. It was a perfect match that would have been that much better had Angle been about a foot nearer so Brock would have landed the moonsault clean.

Still a great match, but had that move had been executed it would have been an all time classic.

I came in here to say mostly this. That was, up until that moment, probably my favorite WM match ever. The moonsault was the perfect cap to the main event of arguably the best Mania ever. It should have been the perfect finish, anyway, but Brock placed Angle WAY too far. He should have known. Angle should have tried to roll too, but that's really not his responsibility.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

I didn't mean to place blame on Angle. Just to say that he was about a foot too far.

Another crazy thing to consider is Angle wrestled the match with a busted neck. That just makes the match that much better.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I didn't mean to place blame on Angle. Just to say that he was about a foot too far.

Another crazy thing to consider is Angle wrestled the match with a busted neck. That just makes the match that much better.

Excellent example! Still a phenomenal match...but has that one shred of "If only" to it. This is just what I was looking for, thanks!

 

[justtxyank]

Thank you, Outsider, for being one of the very few who understood my post. Owen's snot is a perfect example! Should have been a bigger deal...if I wasn't distracted/sickened. Haha! Very good example!

Most of the other readers OF COURSE miss the point and go back to complaining about booking and writing, which was clearly not what I meant.

As for Heenan's call not bothering some of you, that's fine! But, I sure as hell didn't REALIZE it ruined it after the IWC tore it apart...I knew it live. Like some others have said, Heenan's innocent comment (check my name, dummies, I'm obviously a fan) planted the seed...whereas it would have shocked more people had he not said it. Good for him that most of you are morons and don't see why him doing so would lead intelligent people to think that way. I forget who the audience is sometimes....see the responses above answering a question I never asked.

Good job, Outsider and some others....most of you though...so illiterate, it's sad. Good luck in life!

So you, Mr. Genius Wrestling Fan, were watching a six man tag match live that was pitting WCW against the WWF Invaders where only two of three invaders had been revealed with them promising a surprise partner was in the building. When hell was breaking loose, a man who not involved in the match began walking down the aisle with a serious look on his face who had not been on television recently and the only thing that tipped you off that he might be about to turn was that the announcer asked who's side he was on? And people not bothered by it are the morons?

What would have been weird is if Bobby Heenan, life long Hogan hater, started singing Hogan's praises and calling him a hero. I'm sorry if it ruined for you though. I won't insult you for it.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

And people not bothered by it are the morons?

That is correct.

Now, on to the topic, another one is Warrior's return at WMVIII. The booking was questionable; but, the "little thing" that could have made it that much better was Warrior looking like Warrior. His changed muscle mass and hair length caused just enough hesitation from the crowd to make us wonder "what if?".

 

[Bookerkingston]

When Lesnar returned and F5'd Cena then kicked the crap out of Cena's green hat and it hit the rope and landed in the ring. All of it was great, I just thought it would be funny if the hat flew threw the ropes and somebody in the audience caught it.

 

[dukes07]

I do have to disagree a little. WCW had so much going on that I will say that it was difficult to shoehorn Hart in. That being said it should have been done better. He started strong with his mini-feud with Flair and his later 98 run as a strong heel (I think Bret is a much better heel). His return in 99 was sweet too, leading up to the unfortunate death of Owen. Then they gave him the belt and he was a solid champ for a few weeks before the shitty nWo 2000.

On another note and this may get me eviscerated here and that is fine. I am not a big fan of the current product. I honestly have not seen WWE do a good long-term angle since Austin and then the Hart Foundation of 97. I will say that I am only up to 02 WWE but since 2010, nothing. Short term they get some great shit, such as Nexus, Summer of Punk, Brock and Jericho and so many others and then just BURY it for Cena or HHH. They will then elevate guys like Sheamus, the giggling giants I call them. I honestly cannot understand why Big Show is champ in 2013. Or why guys like Daniel Bryan get saddled in comedy roles with Kane. Or Punk getting relegated to second status or why Cena beat Lesnar or....Jesus, I could go on forever. Watching WWE is like being a Cleveland Browns fan: You know you suck but every now and again you get on a hot streak and play well. Then reality sets in and the shittiness resurfaces. That is the WWE the past few years. Vince needs to retire or die.

 

[The Brain]

SummerSlam 97. There was a hot crowd in the Meadowlands and Steve Austin was well on his way to becoming the most popular wrestler since Hulk Hogan. He was getting an Intercontinental title shot against Owen Hart. We all know what happened. Owen botched a piledriver that nearly broke Austin's neck and the match had to be cut short. After lying motionless for a minute or two Austin was able to roll Owen up in the worst looking pin ever. Until the piledriver they were having an awesome match. I'm sure they had a great climax planned and if not for the accident it would have been one of the best matches of the year. The crowd was just waiting to explode when Austin hit the stunner and won the title. The life was sucked out of the building due to the accident and awkward finish. Austin's career was cut short because of this and obviously his health is more important than a wrestling match but that should have been a classic.

As for Heenan's call not bothering some of you, that's fine! But, I sure as hell didn't REALIZE it ruined it after the IWC tore it apart...I knew it live. Like some others have said, Heenan's innocent comment (check my name, dummies, I'm obviously a fan) planted the seed...whereas it would have shocked more people had he not said it. Good for him that most of you are morons and don't see why him doing so would lead intelligent people to think that way. I forget who the audience is sometimes....see the responses above answering a question I never asked.

I may be mistaken but I don't think even the announcers knew who the third man was. I have a vague memory of reading Bischoff wanted the third man kept secret and wanted a natural reaction from the announcers so he didn't tell them what was going to happen. My guess is if Heenan knew ahead of time that Hogan was the third man he wouldn't have said what he said.

 

[dukes07]

SummerSlam 97. There was a hot crowd in the Meadowlands and Steve Austin was well on his way to becoming the most popular wrestler since Hulk Hogan. He was getting an Intercontinental title shot against Owen Hart. We all know what happened. Owen botched a piledriver that nearly broke Austin's neck and the match had to be cut short. After lying motionless for a minute or two Austin was able to roll Owen up in the worst looking pin ever. Until the piledriver they were having an awesome match. I'm sure they had a great climax planned and if not for the accident it would have been one of the best matches of the year. The crowd was just waiting to explode when Austin hit the stunner and won the title. The life was sucked out of the building due to the accident and awkward finish. Austin's career was cut short because of this and obviously his health is more important than a wrestling match but that should have been a classic.



I may be mistaken but I don't think even the announcers knew who the third man was. I have a vague memory of reading Bischoff wanted the third man kept secret and wanted a natural reaction from the announcers so he didn't tell them what was going to happen. My guess is if Heenan knew ahead of time that Hogan was the third man he wouldn't have said what he said.

Everything I have read points to Heenan not knowing either. It was set up to be a surprise. I don't think it ruined it either. It actually added to the moment, not sure who was on whose side and so on.

As for SS 97, to piggyback off of Owen, I thought the WWF really dropped the ball with him after Bret left. He got really over and they had a chance to do some good things with him but instead they jobbed him to HHH and made him look like a joke. Then they turned him heel.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

Everything I have read points to Heenan not knowing either. It was set up to be a surprise. I don't think it ruined it either. It actually added to the moment, not sure who was on whose side and so on.

As for SS 97, to piggyback off of Owen, I thought the WWF really dropped the ball with him after Bret left. He got really over and they had a chance to do some good things with him but instead they jobbed him to HHH and made him look like a joke. Then they turned him heel.

Of course we all know how tragic his misuse would become. I remember during the aftermath of the Screwjob, Owen was the last one left out of the Hart Foundation. He was nowhere to be found for a couple of weeks, but there was a lot of tension and anticipation as to what he would do when he finally showed up again. He came out through the crowd while Vince was in the middle of the ring, and proceeded to cut one of the most compelling promos I recall ever hearing in a WWE ring. He gave Vince and DX a verbal beat down, and it really looked like he was going to clock Vince. I really wanted to see that happen but Vince called in the goon squad to keep him at bay. They started referring to Owen as "The Black Heart", and it really was a fitting moniker for him (given the state of mind he must have been in at the time). Had they gone for a while longer with this notion of Owen being a lone wolf and going after DX without hesitation on his own, I think he would have been a great character. Pretty soon after, though, he got thrown under the DX bus and all his momentum was sucked out of the atmosphere. He never really recovered from that, and soon got saddled with terrible gimmicks - the worst being the one which ultimately led to his death.

 

[Da Solo]

The Alliance: Even though it's already a given fact that the Invasion angle could have been done much better, things would have went so much smoother if they just fixed some things in the beginnings. First of, Booker T, the only true star they got from WCW, should have been treated as such, and not embarrassed with that "Who are you?" from the Rock. Regardless of Vince's unmistakable hatred for all things WCW, he inherited a gold mine and just shat it all away. Booker should have at least went over Rock a couple of times, and follow up as a main eventer. RVD should have gotten the star treatment too given his status in ECW. And Jericho should have been the defector to the Alliance rather than or even with Austin.

Summerslam 2011: After one hell of a match (although it wasn't as good as their MitB bout), WWE proves that they have no interest in giving Punk a solid over Cena by not only making HHH screw the finish for Punk, but then having Cena follow the WWE title rather than Punk after Nash pulled that BS. The whole subsequent angle in general was a train wreck once HHH and Nash got too involved. Punk lost his edge until Laurinitis, Cena was still getting priority booking when he should not have, Awesome Truth lost almost all of their momentum and HHH once again hogged the spotlight. It all started at Summerslam.

McMahon's bastard son: This could have been a big push for anyone, and rather than giving a deserving superstar that extra backing, they give it to Hornswoggle, who was previously just a midget Finlay carried around. Nothing more needs to be said.

Armaggedon Hell in a Cell: As great of a match as this is, it's hard to figure out why a Hell in a Cell match with names like Rock, Austin, HHH, Taker, Angle and Rikishi is never really looked back on as a classic. Simple: Angle just should not have won.

 

[justtxyank]

McMahon's bastard son: This could have been a big push for anyone, and rather than giving a deserving superstar that extra backing, they give it to Hornswoggle, who was previously just a midget Finlay carried around. Nothing more needs to be said.

To be fair, they built the whole angle for it to be Kennedy and then he blew it with WWE. They went with Hornswoggle to give a good pop and kill the angle.

Armaggedon Hell in a Cell: As great of a match as this is, it's hard to figure out why a Hell in a Cell match with names like Rock, Austin, HHH, Taker, Angle and Rikishi is never really looked back on as a classic. Simple: Angle just should not have won.

I disagree. The reason it's not remember isn't because of who won, it's because Rikishi was in it and took the big bump. (Which was a really dumb, obviously staged stunt) Rikishi never caught on as the main heel and any heat he could have had was gone completely by the time HHH was back in the picture.

 

[Face/Off]

I think the whole angle of The Nexus or even The Corre/ new Nexus was a bit of a short lived situation which I would of enjoyed seeing more of especially the original Nexus.

 

[dukes07]

To be fair, they built the whole angle for it to be Kennedy and then he blew it with WWE. They went with Hornswoggle to give a good pop and kill the angle.



I disagree. The reason it's not remember isn't because of who won, it's because Rikishi was in it and took the big bump. (Which was a really dumb, obviously staged stunt) Rikishi never caught on as the main heel and any heat he could have had was gone completely by the time HHH was back in the picture.

I never really understood the thinking behind Rikishi as the guy who ran over Austin. Then to be revealed that it was HHH as the mastermind. Rikishi always looked like he was drowning in that role, a bit unsure and the WWF seemed not to know how to book him. You need him strong but then again you have a really pissed Austin and then an irate Rock to boot. Then after Trips is revealed as the mastermind he and Austin "work" together a few months later. Just seems lazy to me.

In fact the one angle that really jumped the shark was the Corporate Ministry. Despite being its biggest year ratings wise, 99 WWF is my least favorite of the Monday Night years. Just awful.