How would you have booked Bret Hart in WCW?

[relentless1]

Everybody thinks that bret harts WCW run was bulls*it, i tend to agree, WCW didnt know what to do with him from day 1...in thier defense however you couldnt put him into the world title picture right away because it wouldve halted stings run, now the question i put forth to you people is: How would you have handled bret hart in WCW, what would you have him do? who would he side with, who would he feud with?

 

[relentless1]

i say feud with ric flair to get that respect/ ally, feud with henning to rekindle that feud for a couple months then straight onto hogan, feud with him until starrcade, id have him form a team with benoit and jericho, some sort of canadian connection as far as the world title goes id say keep it off of goldberg til 1999, have hogan beat sting in august then hart beat hogan at starrcade, goldberg can beat bret for it mid '99

 

[returnofplex]

I would have booked him to go to the main office and get his pink slip. I'll admit that from when I first saw his rise to prominence as a kid I never "got" him and I still don't. He has the personality of a toaster and should form a stable with other boring wrestlers such as Brian Danielson, and JOMO called the "IWC Markouts". Sorry Bret, but you have to be more than just a good wrestler to call yourself "The best there is. The best there was, and the best there ever will be."

 

[BarryHorowitzfanclub]

Nice Trolling....

But regardless of it, it does bring to light the concept of what makes a great professional wrestler. Bret did have the personality and charisma of a box of soap, but he did put his money where his mouth was. Sure, his interviews were sharp, hard to digest, and so stiff they felt very personal when he called someone out. But he put on great matches; sold moves well. It is a lot harder to look hurt than it is to look strong.

He needed a partner/manager. And who better than The Brain himself? Take Bobby out of the booth and put him with Bret Hart. Or, of course, Jimmy Hart. The obvious move would have been to remodel another Hart Foundation. Then move from that to bigger things once Sting's story line ran course.

 

[King Patrick Star]

The way I would have book Bret would be quite simple. I would pretty much continue his run from the WWF and carry it over to WCW.

First I would have The Anvil and The Bulldog show up as “Outsiders” and win the Tag Titles immediately. Then bring in their crown jewel, the leader of the Hart Foundation, The Hitman. They also could have picked up a few others, namely Sudden Impact / Thrillseekers, Chris Benoit, and the rest of Team Canada.

The important thing is to keep Bret separate from Hogan, Flair, Piper and the other Leaders and portraying Bret as being on their level by being a leader himself. I would have kept the Hart Foundation separate from the New World Order, WCW, and the Horsemen and any other faction around at that time.

I would have even continued Bret’s feud with the Clique by saying something to Nash and Hall like, “oh look, its HBK’s girlfriends. Since I can’t beat Shawn up, I’ll take it out on you two.” That would have been easy money for WCW replacing Shawn with Kevin and Hunter with Scott and Rude with Rude.

 

[MMK]

WCW's roster ballooned out of control in the late 90's and as a result wrestlers like Bret, as well as Guerrero, Benoit, Jericho, Hennig, Mysterio, Davey Boy, and the other technical wrestlers, were always playing second fiddle to the nWo vs Goldberg/Sting feud. The best thing to do would have been to separate the organization into two different brands similar to what RAW and SMACKDOWN are now.

Basically, the nWo and WCW needed to be separated to two different shows: "WCW Nitro" & a new show "nWo Souled out". Split the roster down the middle. On the nWo show you would have all the nWo guys: Hogan, Nash, Hall, Steiner, Bagwell, and Stevie Ray, going up against there biggest rivals Goldberg, Sting, Luger, DDP, Rick Steiner and Booker T. That would be one show. Bischoff would be the on screen authority figure and would make life miserable for the non nWo guys.

Then on the WCW show you would have all the technical wrestlers: Bret, Benoit, Jericho, Mysterio, Hennig, Guerrero, Malenko, Regal, Davey Boy. This would be the "wrestling" show while the nWo brand would be the "storyline" show. That way the true wrestlers who put on great matches wouldn't have to take a backseat to the nWo storyline which would be kept exclusively on a separate show.

This would have allowed not only Bret Hart, but also all of the underused cruiser and middle weight wrestlers to not be overshadowed by the nWo storyline. Each show would have its own championship. The nWo would be in possesion of the traditional big gold belt while wrestlers like Goldberg and Sting tried to take it from them. Meanwhile the WCW exclusive show would have a new title. The WCW Championship. A 32 man tournament would be held to crown that brands champion. Bret would win and along the way he would beat all of the guys who he matched up best with in the ring: Davey Boy, Curt Hennig, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and finally Chris Benoit.

This brand split would allow the wrestlers to shine on the WCW show, while the nWo war against the traditionalists would be waged on a separate show.

 

[willross]

Bret Hart may have the personality of a toaster as one person put it but he is still the biggest INTERNATIONAL draw in pro wrestling history. No person ever main evented as many sold out shows out of his companies home territory as Bret Hart did.

That fact alone is why WCW should of brought in Bret and fed him as the Final Savior of WCW during the nWo angle. Him, Sting, and Goldberg could of formed the alliance to conquer the nWo, kill them off, and then feud with each other over who is the best. That could of taken you up until Starrcade 1999 easily but WCW would of wasted it on a Nitro probably and lost the huge payday like always.

If anyone with any sense of logic when it comes to importance of Live Events and PPV Buys could of saved WCW as a whole, let alone Bret Harts run.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

The 1st thing I would have done is build Bret up as the WWF champion since he lost the belt by deceptive means and treat it like you have signed THEIR real champion, that would have been the first thing I would have done. When he finally came in I would have done the 1 thing the fans wanted to see but never did, I would have put him in a program with Hollywood Hogan.

Bret didn't start wrestling until AFTER Hogan's big match with Sting. I would have had Sting win clean at Starrcade '97 and then right after that Bret vs. Hogan because that is the one match WWF never delivered on that was supposed to happen. Since Hogan was constantly demeaning WCW anyways Hogan could say I'm going after Bret since he is another World Champion. I think a Hogan vs. Bret program would have been a perfect way to start of Bret's career in WCW instead of him doing nothing for the 1st year. Maybe at the end of Hogan vs. Bret have Bret kick Hogan out of the nWo and have Bret become the new leader since he was really hitting his stride as a heel right before he left WWE. Hogan was becoming stale anyways as a heel at the time so just have him go back to face and align himself with WCW.

That way it would inject new life into the nWo with a new leader (even have the colors change to pink and black), don't do the split and have Bret go after Sting next since Bret is the REAL worlds champion. Have Bret do a program with Sting next. Through those 2 storylines it would have made their main event in WCW a lot more interesting I think and could have worked very well IMO. I would have Bret beat Sting for the title and have the nWo come in and help Bret win the title.

Enter Goldberg. Goldberg was on his hot streak at the time and was rolling so naturally Goldberg vs. Bret would have been the way to go. Have Bret have a program with Goldberg and have Goldberg win. From Bret losing the title it could cause dissension in the nWo and from there you could have the nWo implode and end it because by that time people would have been completely over the nWo.

From there Bret goes back to a face, maybe has a program with Hall and Nash. That would at least cover the 1st year of his career in WCW and from there you can just roll with it.

 

[hjq0023]

The only good/decent thing about WCW was the NWO angle in the late 90s. The rest of the show was trash. The Goldberg concept was gold. I dont even know if WCW was the right place for Bret hart. That show was overloaded with big names but yet the bookers did not know now to handle them

 

[The Wolf]

Actually I think the very beginning was smart. Have us wonder is he going to side with the NWO & then have him ref the match between Sting/Hogan. I would not change one thing with that.

What I would change is the following night have the NWO call him out & let him be the Hitman. Have him give Hogan his credit but bash him for his new run & hide attitude. Needless to say he will feud with Hogan and go through NWO gauntlet teams up with sting DDP Flair all at different times. Have it all lead to a to a final match between Hogan & Hart winner is number one contender. Have Bret win & then him and Sting have a match Hogan interferes causing a DQ. Then a triple threat match at Starcade for the title Bret wins. He will take on all comers WCW & NWO (other then just Hogan).

 

[krazyd]

As the best there is the best there was and the best there ever will be..the way he should have been booked..they wasted his talent and time and made the end of his career a mere footnote ..his wcw days sucked and thats a shame

 

[MWRedskins]

i would've built him up as the guy to help get rid of the NWO and i would've quickly had him going after the WCW title. i would've had him (in his debut) discuss how he was screwed out of his WWF title because he came here (to WCW) and how until he's beaten that he's the real champion, then i would've booked him to be the world champion asap. use the screwjob to your advantage and have Bret Hart as the victim to a screwjob and for him to get "his" by winning the WCW title then let him hold it for a while then lose to Hogan who would lose it to Goldberg, that's how i would build him up, as the main event player that he was at the time.

 

[akathelaw]

I'd tell the kind of story the fans wanted to see.

The fans saw Bret Hart get screwed out of a title in WWF, so he quit in quite a irreverent fashion. WCW was in the midst of a mutiny with the nWo trying to take over, and its leader Hulk Hogan needed an adversary. I would book it like so:

On Nitro, Hogan and Bischoff interrupt the opening Cruiserweight battle royal with the entire nWo gang. Hogan and his buddies decimate the talent with power moves while Bischoff announces that Nitro has been taken over. Hogan gets on the stick and trash talks the WCW roster, criticizing the young "acrobats" and "vanilla midgets" on the WCW roster. He explains that he's brought a Superstar to the nWo that is tired of getting screwed over. Hogan motions to the entrance ramp where we see a "HITMAN" video package playing in black and white nWo colors with the nWo rock guitar theme. While the crowd waits, no one comes down the ramp.
Hogan and the nWo crowd wait in confusion, when Sting appears on the entrance ramp. Sting laughs at Hogan and his gang so they send a few members after Sting, when Bret "The Hitman" Hart storms the ring from the crowd and starts laying punches on every nWo lackey in the ring. Hogan and Bischoff take off into the crowd but stop halfway to hear Bret, who has cleared the ring and grabbed a microphone. Wearing street clothes and a WCW t-shirt, Bret tells the nWo that he's come to the WCW to win Championships, not to join any gangs. Bret tells them he's led a unit before, and he'll do it again if he has to.

Over the next few weeks Bret Hart and Sting lead the WCW locker room and coach the new generation of faces. Bret and other WCW wrestlers often clash with nWo attacks, leading up to a real war for power between Hogan and the nWo vs. Bret and the WCW roster.

 

[mdj2010]

The only good/decent thing about WCW was the NWO angle in the late 90s. The rest of the show was trash. The Goldberg concept was gold. I dont even know if WCW was the right place for Bret hart. That show was overloaded with big names but yet the bookers did not know now to handle them

So, first off you say there was only one good thing, then you praise the Goldberg angle - that makes two good things already. Add to that the constant excitement of the cruiserweights and the unexpected nature of their weekly live shows and WCW was, for a ong period, the number 1 company in the wrestling world. Not bad for a place you refer to as trash.

Now that my rant is over, I was always amazed at the extent to which WCW dropped the ball with Bret. They had so many oppurtunities handed to them, largely thanks to the nature in which Bret departed the WWF.
Hell, the WWF has basically shown them how to build a guy, they did the exact same thing declaring Flair as the Real World champion.
If that weren;t good enough, they could have built Bret into a paranoid character, always looking round the corner for the next person to screw him.
They could even have considered Bret for a role in a reformed Horseman - if one guy has the credentials to be a horseman, its Bret.

But, what did they do? From my memory, very very little. Shame.

 

[RicoLen]

I've already gotten flack for this in the past, but even so, I remain firm that Bret Hart, dressed in his jorts, black Bret Hart t-shirt, and a flannel and his greasy hair, entering WCW as a jaded, disenfranchised shell of his former self would have worked out VERY well as a member of Raven's Flock.

You start him out as just another guy in the flock, except obviously everyone realizes this guy is a main eventer. The commentators talk about it wondering why the hell he's in the flock wasting his talent away. He gets on the mic saying, yeah I'm here to collect a paycheck, because I've got a family to feed, but I just lost my heart for the business, and I don't care enough to strive to be #1 anymore.

Raven can toss him in any number of matches he wants, Bret sells that he's half assing it. IE he gives it his all, looks spectacular then he takes a bump and just stops trying and lets himself be pinned, he sits up looks sheepishly around like, ohwell. The commentators would also need to discuss this and point it out so they realize what he's doing.

Then he's tossed into a fight against someone like Benoit, or Hennig, someone that has some real history with him, and they beat him, and afterwards get on the mic and ball him out for it, saying he didn't even try, and that no matter what it takes, they're going to light a fire under his ass again and push him to be the man he used to be.

Finally he's in a semi feud with either Benoit or Hennig, (for discussions sake I'll use Benoit). Benoit gets a rematch the following week on Nitro, and once it becomes apparent that Bret's stopped trying again, Benoit picks him up and tosses into the corner and slaps him and gets right in his face and starts telling him to be a man and stop being a little crybaby. Benoit could point to the rest of the flock sitting ringside and say that every one of them, Raven included are nothing but bugs compared to the Bret Hart everyone knows and loves. Bret Hart starts to look like he's listening and maybe even agreeing some, but Raven comes in and attacks Benoit and squashes him. Bret goes back to ringside like a good little lapdog.

Next week Benoit has a match against Raven, Raven cheats uses the flock to go over and squash Benoit again, but this time Bret Hart is resistant to attack, Raven calls him out and they put Bret in his place, and ultimately Bret falls back in line.

Next week Benoit has another match with Bret. Bret starts out on fire like he always does until he takes his first bump, but after a short while he realizes that Benoit isn't fighting back. Bret starts talking to him like "What the hell are you doing?" and Benoit just walks out and leaves ringside.

PPV time comes and Chris Benoit vs Bret Hart is booked as one of the early/opening matches. Bell rings, they start to lock up but Bret quickly realizes that Benoit's not trying. Benoit starts to leave but Bret stops him, and Benoit turns around a sucker punches him knocking him on his ass. Benoit stands over him and taunts him to get up and he does, furious, and they proceed to put on a clinic. Bret Hart wins, and before he leaves, Benoit gets on the mic and says "Now THAT is the Bret Hart everyone in the locker room respects, and all the fans know and love." Bret comes back they shake hands and Benoit heads to the back, and Bret turns to see the flock staring him down. He stops smiling, and gets a glazed over look on his eyes and returns to the flock. But Raven is pissed and is yelling at him and pushing him some, but Bret doesn't fight back.

Following night on Nitro, Benoit is in a match with someone else, and Raven attacks, squashes him with help from some of the flock, and Raven gets a mic and calls Bret into the ring. And says something along the lines of "You think this guy cares a damn about you? He was just using you to get a spot on the PPV card and the paycheck that comes with it. You're nothing. The flock are the only ones that will accept you." This time Raven attacks Bret, and the two start to go at it before the rest of the flock joins in and beat down Bret. Once he's knocked senseless they grab him and toss him over the guardrail and forcibly sit his ass in one of the seats with the rest of the flock.

Next week Bret has another match against a different opponent from his past (for discussion's sake I'll use Hennig). Hennig comes out and before the match starts Hennig says something along the lines of "I understand how you got into the funk you were in. It happens to the best of us, but these fools are poison, and you should know better." Bret starts to do the typical half assed match, where he starts out on fire, takes a bump then stops fighting all together, when Hennig starts yelling at him just like Benoit did. Benoit comes to ringside to cheer on Hart, and he gets back into the match, Hennig & Hart put on a great match, and just when it looks like Hart is going to win, and Benoit is cheering him on, Raven attacks Benoit again, and the flock swarm both Benoit & Hennig and beat them down. Raven gets in Bret's face and yells for him to go sit down, and Bret does.

Next week on Nitro, they show the flock on their way to ringside, but as they stream out of one of the doors into the crowd to make their way to their seats, the camera switches backstage and shows Hennig & Benoit grabbing Bret and carrying him off without the rest of the flock noticing. They take him to a nearby room where a bunch of the midcarder guys, particularly those canadian stampede guys and others like Jericho are there. Benoit says they just wanted to show him first hand that all these guys here supported him and respected him and want to see him back in the championship hunt again. Bret doesn't say much but he smiles and leaves and returns to the flock.

Next week Raven has a tag match with Bret vs Hennig & Benoit. Bret halfasses it, Raven uses the rest of the flock to win. Hennig is booked to fight Hart at the next PPV and Benoit booked to challenge Raven for the USHW Championship.

I could keep going, storyboarding this out simply like I am now, but ultimately I could see Raven, Bret, Benoit, Hennig, Jericho, and Saturn all getting elevated, to the point where Bret finally turns full on face, decides he wants control of the flock, and to help these guys turn things around for themselves and Raven is challenged to a match against Bret for control, which he loses, and Raven goes on to join the ranks of other WCW heels that are in the WHWC race, where he ends up facing Bret Hart again.

IMO a good story revolving around The Flock, could have kept Jericho, Benoit, Saturn, and maybe even Eddie around in WCW and elevated them as well as Raven all to main event calibre performers. But no, everything had to do with an nWo that, if not disbanded, should have been shrunk in size and power to make way for new blood to join the ranks of the main eventers.

But whatever, I always get flamed for this idea that Bret should have been in the Flock, and told it's an idiotic idea. I don't care, I like it.

 

[Mr_billy]

Four Horsemen. Have Him be the Number one guy to run the horsemen, and have flair be an advisor, with Malenko and Benoit, it would have been the best of the best, and have them make every member of the nWo tap.

 

[The Idiot]

I'll admit, I didn't read this entire thread so if this idea was previously mentioned, sorry.

Anyways...I would have used the Montreal screwjob ending as a way to bring him into WCW. He never gave up, he was never pinned...he was "their" world champion and now he has come to visit WCW. The announcers would help and praise the shit out of him. Being surprised that he was here (like Scott Hall when he first arrived), but the only difference is, they respected him.

He didn't need to get involved in the Hogan vs Sting feud and interfere. Instead I would have sat his ass front row at ringside to watch Hollywood Hogan vs Sting for the WCW's heavyweight title at Starrcade. I would have had Sting beat Hogan CLEAN in the middle of the ring by tapping out to the scorpion death lock AKA the sharpshooter. Sting is crowned the new champion and Bret stands out of his chair and applauds.

Hart jumps the barracade, walks up the steps and gets into Stings face. The staredown with Sting holding the belt over his head with one arm and Bret smiling. The announcers (whoever they were at the time) would hype up this moment and claim that the two World champions are standing in the ring facing each other.

From that moment on Bret Hart would have instantly became the top 1 or 2 guys in the company. WCW had finally gotten the "other" champion and that we would finally find out after all these years who the real world's heavyweight champion truly was. Screw Hogan....this is a REAL dream match many hardcore fans wanted to see, I remember hearing it for YEARS. Now it would finally happen. Bret Hart's first match in WCW would be one of the biggest matches in his entire career.

How's that for a start?

 

[Peoples_Champ]

^ Fabulous Rougeau has an excellent point - Bret was technically the last undisputed WWF champion at the time. That could have been played up through the roof and should have been.

I understand Bischoff really wanted the nWo / WCW angle to continue, but the new viewers they gained didn't want to watch the aging angle, they wanted to see how Bret handles authority and new competition. But, at the time, Nash & Hall had the tag titles, Hennig had the US Title and Hogan, of course, held the Big Gold Belt so clearly they needed to get some TV time and linking them with Bret either positively or negatively would be a good way to start Bret's WCW storylines..

This is really long, but trust me, its worth it. Down rep me if you read it and it sucks, I swear I think this is good booking on my part!

I would start the Nitro the same way they did post-Screwjob, with all the nWo guys giving Hitman credit. It helped tease his introduction and Bischoff should have concluded the promo by saying Vince is trying to screw the WCW fans by not letting Bret show up on the show. WW3 was Nov 23 1997, so they had to continue to promote Bret's arrival during the PPV - like a 2 or 3 minute segment with graphics and wrestler hype (he's the greatest, blah blah) or even the nWo having a backstage interview promoting how Bret is going to be bigger in WCW than he ever was in WWF.

Bret debuted December 15, Starrcade was December 28. First off, no way should Bret have been a guest referee in his first appearance on WCW PPV, and especially between Bischoff and Zybysko. If they wanted to continue the Bret's allegiance angle, on the Dec 15th Nitro they should've ended the show with a WCW / nWo standoff backstage and fade to black with Bret coming out of the crowd and getting into the middle of the ring, with both factions stopping and staring (nobody else in the ring except Bret, everyone else backstage). December 22 Nitro, Bret should have interrupted a promo where a WCW and an nWo guy were going face-to-face (and they were on the Starrcade 97 card, example: DDP & Hennig - replace Hennig with Hall, let Hennig fight someone else and defend his US Title) and he could have kept the mystique going by pointing to the WCW guy and saying "I want to fight you" and the nWo guy and saying "AND I want to fight you!" Short, sweet and to the point, sets up a co-main event. Interesting fact, this is how the go-home Nitro ended (includes Bret): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0CIWm592sI

In the PPV, Bret has a chance to team up with Hall to beat DDP. Near the end, Hall goes out of his way to let Bret pin DDP after he hit the Razor's Edge on DDP. Bret goes for the pin, lifts DDP's head up at 2, implying that they should mess him up more (hinting that he's nWo). Hall gets ecstatic, Bret stands up DDP, throws him into Hall (DDP conveniently rolls out of the ring), Bret does his five moves of doom on Hall, ends with the Sharpshooter, Bret wins. DDP rolls back into the ring, shakes hands with Bret, confirms Bret's a babyface, crowd goes nuts. Next Nitro he cuts a promo talking about allegiances and alliances, saying that he had an alliance with Vince McMahon and Vince screwed him. A pro-WCW guy (JJ Dillion?) gets really excited and Bret says that he isn't going to trust pro-WCW guy either. Bret is going to rely on Bret, because Bret believes in himself like the fans of *Insert City Here* believe in him. Crowd goes nuts.

Bret beats the best in nWo for a couple months (next PPV was nWo Souled Out, which would have been perfect for a Bret v. Hennig / Nash / Hall) while calling out Hogan (the current title holder). Scott Steiner's heel turn could have been with a three-man tag Steiners & Bret v. Outsiders +1, leading to a Bret & Steiner angle for a couple months with Bret being victorious. By June 98, Bret would wrestle Macho Man - the highlight of this feud being that Bret is going through nWo's best and upper echelon (hinting at a Hogan feud). The Macho feud could last three months, leading to a big payoff at Bash at the Beach 98 (which was headlined by Hogan & Rodman v. DDP & Malone). By this time, Goldberg was WCW champion, which should have definitely been that way, no matter how hot Bret was. Goldberg and Bret should have been a mutual respect but want to kick each other's ass tag team (hinting at a future feud down the line) as they take on nWo guys. Goldberg held the title until Starrcade where he dropped it to Nash and ended The Streak - I agree a nWo guy should have won / ended The Streak (maybe PPV before Starrcade), Bret would fight the champ and say that he was going to avenge Goldberg's defeat. Starrcade (biggest PPV of the year for WCW) could've been where Hart finally wins the WCW title off the transitional champ. Feel good promo next night on Nitro, where he recaps the year that was and how he went from getting screwed over by Vince to WCW champ... and since was never beat for the WWF title, he's the only true champ in the wrestling industry anywhere. Crowd would go nuts with this, especially if they followed the Hitman saga all the way up to this point (also a good barometer of how over Bret is compared to his first appearances). He could warm up the crowd and say he'll take on any nWo guy, any guy in the back, any guy who used to be champ, any guy who thinks they can fight him, any guy who thinks they're a legend, any guy who's been a WCW champ... and while the crowd is going nuts for an anticipated Hogan feud, out comes Ric Muthafuckin' Flair. Hart v. Flair goes on for a couple months for the title with Hart retaining and the two shaking hands in the ring around March 1999. Then Hart starts feuding with higher-level nWo guys again (Macho, Hall, Hennig) with the same wins. Around this time, Spring 1999, Owen dies, which shoots Bret sky high as a babyface, beating Hall then Nash (assuming Bret wants to continue wrestling). Summer 1999, Bret thanks the fans for being with him on this emotional roller coaster. Bret again teases a Hogan feud without saying Hogan's name, referring to Hogan by persona and with more intensity with each sentence and out comes... Muthafuckin' Sting. Bret drops the title to Sting, for Sting to drop it 3-4 months down the line to, you guessed it, El Dandy.. no, just kidding, Hulk Muthafuckin' Hogan.

Hogan comes out with the whole nWo gang BS, talking about how he's should always be the champ and blah blah. Gene Okerlund, who's interviewing, asks him questions, Hogan calls himself a fighting champ, he's never ducked a fight, to name one guy he's never fought. Okerlund says straight up, to Hogan's face, in the middle of all the nWo guys, "What about Bret The Hitman Hart?" nWo recoils in horror and shock at the mere mention of the name, Hogan does one of his entertaining heel promos where he denies everything and says Bret has nothing on him. Okerlund points out that he and Bret have never fought in a match, Hogan denies and stalls. Okerlund presses him, "THE FANS WANT TO SEE YOU AND BRET, 1-ON-1 IN THE RING!" Crowd goes nuts. Bret comes out onto the stage area, cuts the promo of his life about how right Okerlund is, how right the fans are. How he wants to see how he matches up against the 24-inch pythons and blah blah. Starrcade 99, right before the Year 2000, Hogan v. Bret for the title, where everyone is barred from ringside and there must be a winner. Make it an intense match, Hogan blades, Bret with the Five Moves of Doom, ref bump, Bret with the Sharpshooter, Hogan taps but no ref to check. Bret wakes up ref, Hogan comes back, have another ref bump, Hogan uses chair on Bret, does a couple leg drops, wakes up ref, 1...2... kick out. Hogan beside himself in disbelief, kicking and screaming. Bret with the comeback, working on Hogan's leg drop leg, this fact to be highlighted by the announce team. Hogan gets the upper hand, is getting over on Bret. Hogan bodyslams Bret, runs to the rope, sticks out the leg to do the legdrop... Bret catches it, turns around to intertwine the legs, rolls himself and Hogan onto their bellies, sits up and, lo and behold, its the Sharpshooter (a la his WWF Summerslam matches with Mr. Perfect). Hogan fights for as long as he can (a la Bret v. Austin at WrestleMania), and right before he passes out from the pain, he mercifully, meekly, slowly... taps. Crowd goes wild, I need a cigarette.

Bret does a heart-warming promo next night on Nitro with Okerlund, really get the fans to fall for him. Thank the fans for being behind him, supporting him, etc. Bret says he won the title back for the fans, for the announcers, for the camera crew, for Mean Gene Okerlund and for the guys in the back. But there's one guy in the back who he truly did it for, one guy who's dominant and the reason Bret started working his way to the title picture. One guy he wants to honor with a shot at the belt. That one man... is Muthafuckin' Goldberg. Set up three months of PPVs, ends with Bret putting over Goldberg and shaking hands. Goldberg headlines, Bret co-main events, having 5-star matches with Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Benoit, while having 4-star matches with Booker T and Jeff Jarrett. These matches last one year, at which point Bret claims he intended not to renew and just become a part-time wrestler.

If WCW had followed this path, I really think WWF would be extinct. But then again, if WCW had proper bookers in the first place, us losers on the WZ Forums wouldn't have better ideas than them.

 

[WunNightStan619]

to be honest i really wouldnt even signed him. WCW was a cluster fuck of talent as it was and there was no need for Bret. If anything bringing him would only mean bad news, which is what happened.

 

[dansaun77]

WCW should quite simply have booked Hart as being a renegade, having been fingered by WWE, have him turn up on Nitro the following night and go to town on an open live mic. The real life bitterness and hatred would have spiked ratings something shocking.
Hart could have bbeen booked a s a crzed heel ringpost figure four leg locks to different stars each week, have him have no affiliation with the nWo so as to keep a fresh angle going.
Further on, the Hart vs Hogan gold money feud should have been built slowly to have culminated in 1998 Starrcade. The Golderb vs Hart feud for 1999 would have gone the same way as the death of Owen would have out paid to 1999 for the most part. WCW though could not flush a toilet properly without Turners money, and even then that was their downfall.

 

[ilapierre]

I read a lot of really good posts on here and some really sound like better ways to have booked Bret Hart's time in WCW. I really thought WCW did a good job hyping up the Hitman's arrival in WCW and I really didn't have too big a problem with how he was used at Starrcade. I really think WCW dropped the ball by not bringing him in with a fake WWF championship belt as he was never truly beaten for it. I like that WCW delayed Hitman's rise to the top. There were 20 guys competing in the main event ranks who earned their spots in WCW and Hitman simply walked in and had to work his way to the top. I would have booked Hart in a year long program where he finally won his first official WCW world title at Starrcade 98. This is how i'd do it:

1 At a Nitro in the middle of November 97, have Hitman introduced to the ring as the real WWE world champion by the entire NWO waving Canadian flags. Have the NWO guys like Nash and Hall (Michael's clique members) arrogantly talk somewhat down to him like they did. Hitman could tell them he wasn't joining them but that he wasn't against them. I liked how they brought Rude in the same time he was appearing on WWE TV. As Hart walked back to the dressing room from his NWO encounter you could have Rick Rude (a member of DX) come out of the crowd and attack him and join the NWO on the spot. Rude could have been sent in by DX. The NWO could have beaten Hart to a pulp to explain not being on TV for the next month.

2 The Nitro before Starrcade, where the NWO had taken over Nitro, have the NWO ask Hart to reconsider joining the NWO and have Hart come out with Hogan's head in a box (this happened). At Starrcade, Hitman should have been in the audience and not a special guest ref at all for the Hall match. But he could have jumped in to reverse the Hogan/Sting match, as he did, so that Sting couldn't be screwed over like he had been in WWE.

3 Sting and Hogan would battle, as they did, for the title at Superbrawl but in the meantime Hitman could defend the WWF championship as a free agent (not WCW but not NWO). He would remain undefeated all year during the Goldberg streak but it would pass unmentioned until the next Starcade so not to ruin the Goldberg hype. Hitman could defend the title against the NWO and the best WCW had to offer.

4 Let's say Sting beat Hogan again, like he did, and Savage beat Sting like he did. I thought Savage would have been amazing as champ for a few months as the angle with him vs the NWO was over big time. It should have been dragged out until Savage left in June for surgery. The Nitro where Hitman screwed Savage over to help Hogan regain the title, to me, was stupid. I did like wondering whether Hitman was really NWO or not but i don't think this was the route for Hitman quite yet. Savage as champ and leader of the Wolfpack vs Hogan and the NWO would have been a great angle with the NWO trying to gain back that belt. Hitman could have been targeted by both groups for recruitment and Hitman could tease joining both. Savage and Hitman could have had a series of matches for the title where the NWO intervened to keep the title on the weaker Savage so Hogan could sometime soon regain it. Then in June at BATB have the NWO intervene for Hitman who'd win the WCW title. It could go down with Hogan hitting Savage with a foreign object without Hart knowing. An all out attack on Savage would pursue after the match and put Savage out of action for a year. Nash would now lead the Wolfpack by default. Hitman would come out on Nitro the next night with both belts, announced by the NWO as the new world champ. Hitman would come out and drop the title after discovering the NWO had been responsible for his victory.

5 Since NWO would now be running WCW then Hogan could just take the world title from Hitman and call himself the real WCW champ if Hitman, after losing to Michaels, was gonna call himself the undisputed WWF world champ. For the next half year a program could be in place where NWO and Wolfpack during their feud ran roughshod on WCW. Goldberg's winning streak would continue. Perhaps a Turner executive a few months after would appear on TV and make Eric Bischoff have the title put up for grabs in a tournament since it wasn't won fairly. Goldberg and Hitman could be left out due to NWO politics and not accepting the NWO invitation from either sides. Goldberg could be suspended for his run ins or Hitman could be left out due to already being the WWF world champ. Hitman could go on beating the non NWO guys week after week as Goldberg would collect win after win during his streak. Meanwhile the tournament could see every other WCW guy picking off most of the NWO factions besides Hogan and Nash. Any time there was NWO interference Goldberg could run in after the match to try and stop the NWO. The tournament could end at Halloween Havoc with Hogan vs Nash and the Fingerpoke of Doom moment (if it had to happen). Goldberg could be attacked the same way and the two NWO factions could be reunited now that WCW was gaining some steam.

6 At this point Turner executives could come in and call out the collusion. Bischoff would be fired if the Hitman vs Hogan for the undisputed champion of the wrestling world didn't happen at Starrcade. There would be a two month program between the two with their past history of Hogan standing in the way of Hart's career development
as the storyline. There could also be the Flair vs Bischoff match with the winner becoming the permenant WCW President. With NWO help, Bischoff could have Flair beaten to the point of victory. (This happened the Nitro after Starrcade 98). Have Savage come out, like he originally did, and low blow The Giant, have Hitman come out and stop Bischoff from running away from the match, have Sting and other WCW wrestlers with Sting masks stop Hogan and the others from interfering and have Flair finally beat Bischoff fair and square for control of WCW. The next night tease the end of the NWO with a Nitro rematch between Hogan and Hart. If Hart wins the NWO ends. Then there could be a double turn as Nash and Hall would double cross Hogan and jacknife him for Hitman to win and become the new leader of the NWO. Hitman would take his two titles and make them one. It could have been a year long conspiracy by the Wolfpack leader and his best friend Hall to have Hogan removed once Bischoff lost control. Then there could be a year long feud between the NWO and Hogan, Goldberg, etc. Hitman and Goldberg could have wrestled to no contests with NWO interference.

7 Of course, Hitman was injured and his brother died so he had to take time away. We can't pretend that didn't happen. He could just not defend his title during that time. Hogan rarely defended his title so Hitman could have done that route as the new NWO leader. The NWO could do beatdowns on Hogan with Goldberg coming to his rescue. Goldberg could rise the ranks beating everyone in the entire company, Savage, Flair, Hogan, etc. Every PPV, Hitman could have a dream match beating Benoit, DDP, Sting, Flair, Savage, Luger. These streaks would run concurrent of each other. Then Hitman vs Goldberg at Starrcade 99. The stipulation is if Hitman wins the NWO runs WCW again and for the entire millennium. If Hitman loses the NWO has to end for the whole millennium. The months prior the NWO guys could either be thrown out or walk away. Hogan and Goldberg could run rampant defending WCW until only the big NWO guys remaining were just Nash, Hall and Hitman. Goldberg could beat Hitman for the title at Starrcade 99 and end the NWO once and for all by decade's end. After the match, Hogan could save Hitman from a beatdown by Nash and Hall (who'd be mad about the end of the New World Order) and the two could have a series of tag matches with the Outsiders the first month or two of 2000. I would have loved to see Hulkamania battle the New World Order and this would have been the best way to do it. And Goldberg could remain undefeated and World champ until the right guy came along to beat him. Goldberg's streak was huge for WCW and should have continued to keep viewer interest. I would have liked to see a face Hitman beat Goldberg a year later for the strap, giving Goldberg his first loss. But of course, we all know what Goldberg did to Hitman's career at Starcade 99. But, had that not happened, we may have seen Bret Hart used more properly but years after the fact.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Really most of WCW's in 1998 was a disaster - remember splitting the NWO into two groups, a semi fan favorite Wolf Pac that was mostly just Kevin Nash and WCW guys like Sting & Luger vs Black & White which was supposed to be lead by Hogan (but he wasnt around that much) and featured such memorable guys as Horace, Disco Inferno, Scott Norton, and Virgil ??

1998 also gave us Dennis Rodman & Jay Leno in the ring plus the ridiculously weird and way too short return of Ultimate Warrior. When Goldberg was champ he was constantly booked underneath anything involving Hogan, as Hollywood main evented the Aug and Sept PPV despite Goldberg being WCW Champion - then at Halloween Havoc Goldberg vs DDP was given main event status on the card but in the pre PPV build up on TV we got heavy doses of Hogan-Warrior, which was kinda dumb considering Warrior only wrestled one match and left.

By the end of the year they seemed to be getting more focussed, with a lot of energy put into Nash/Goldberg & Flair's return, unfortunately Brett was on injured reserve during this time and was essentialy useless to the company heading into their premier event of the year, which actually drew really big numbers despite no Hart, or Hogan or Sting for that matter.

As for Hart, I liked his initial entry and the mystery of wether or not he would be NWO, saving Sting from the screw job at Starrcade 97, etc. Booking him against Flair was a mistake if the intention was to get him over with WCW fans because most of the audience booed Brett during that feud and they had to have Flair come on TV after the PPV and the two had a interview love fest just to get some positive vibe for Hart.

Essentially if you believe Hart was a big deal then he needs to be set against the biggest deals in the company, if he's going to be your fan favorite he needs to run against the NWO (did he join both Wolf Pac & Black & White at different times, I dont even remember) - Have him feud with different NWO heels leading up to an end of year confrontation with Hogan with the belt on the line.

I realize that Goldberg's assention may have derailed that, but you could still build the program of the two most dominant WWE Champions of the past two decades squaring off for the right to challenge Goldberg and end "The Streak", winning the WCW Title in the process. I read online years ago that there were similair plans like that, they wanted Flair & Hart to team up and feud with Nash & Hall for awhile to help position Brett vs Hogan but Hogan didn't like it. It got scrapped anyway because they tried to fire Flair. Saying they couldnt put Hart in the World Title picture ASAP because it would have detracted from Sting is silly because they had no intention of riding Sting as champion, he immediately lost the title and soon Hogan was champ again, all that build up so WCW could look foolish and NWO & Hogan would be champs again.

Have Hart ally with WCW, keep the NWO as one unit, build all year to an end of year showdown with Hogan, give Goldberg the belt, keep the streak alive at Starrcade, winner of Hart-Hogan moves on and challenges Goldberg at SuperBrawl 99. That would have been good use of Hart, assuming he didn't get injured and Hogan was willing to play ball

 

[New Hot Fed]

Bret shows up as champ, Hogan takes issue with it. It's champ vs champ at Starccade 1997.

You see, Sting facing Hogan was too soon. Keep Sting vs Hogan further down the line. That match should have been the end of an era the ultimate good vs ultimate evil. The reason why they screwed up the finish was that the story was not played, WCW was still making a ton of money from the nWo and they did not want to end it. And they were right, but the ultimate result could not have ended well for Sting because of it. Even when Sting won the title, it was not the end of anything. And that was the problem.

I would have kept the suspence of Sting running longer. In fact don't reveal if he's face or heel right away. Uncensored 97 in February was great but do that maybe in late 97(or another time) instead. But since he's not involved with Hogan, and has not shown his color, he needs to be a presence on Nitro. Keep Sting occupied. In 97 I would have had Sting continue recruiting guys like he mysteriously did with Savage and DDP, mounting himself an army. And then let him face Raven and the Flock so he would be active, right. (the way it could be done would be both Sting and Raven are playing mindgames, brainwashing guys, recruiting one guy after another and after a while it's the same company right, so it becomes a "this company is too small for two crazy cult leaders")

Come the match Hogan vs Hart, Sting screws Hart of the title! It would be a repeat of Montreal but more importantly, it keeps you guessing what is behind Sting's head. And why he did what he did. The answer would be Hart is another invader, he's not a homegrown, Sting doesn't trust him. Plus he doesn't think Hart is the solution to defeat Hogan's evil reign(the audience thinks Sting has turned...or maybe not).

In 1998 you could have a mad Hart going after Sting. But since Sting would have a mini-army, Hart could bring in his WWF guys(with Benoit and Jericho joining him). This would lead to Sting vs Hart at Starrcade 98. Meanwhile in early 98, the nWo is split like it did(but with Hall, Nash, Pac, Konnan, Steiner and Bagwell forming the Wolfpac). There's two wars on two front and it leads to Hogan facing Nash for the control of the nWo at Starccade 98. (meanwhile Goldberg face Bam Bam Bigolow directly at that event)

Just for fun I would add a triple main event. Instead of Luger beating Hogan in a fluke in 97 on Nitro, do it in the fall of 98 instead. Because Nash vs Hogan for the control of the nWo doesn't need the title belt. Have Luger win the belt on Nitro as a surprise. But you have him keep the strap longer so he can have his title defense at Starrcade. But do it like it happened at Uncensored 97 with that type of gauntlet battle royal, Luger beats the whole nWo. But gets screwed by Dennis Rodman and Hogan wins the title. Sting comes off the roof top and finally shows his true colors as the babyface we want him to be.

This set the stage for Sting vs the nWo for 1999(leading to Starrcade 99 where Sting beats Hogan, gets the title and it's the end of the nWo)

I'll give you 5 bucks if anyone read all that

 

[bitesthedust]

Hart debuts in WCW at Starrcade 1997 sitting in the front row watching Sting v Hogan. Sting wins the title clean, Bret applauds at the match finish before jumping the barricade to have an in-ring stare down with the new champion.

The night after on Nitro, Sting opens the show and goes on about how great it is the title is back in WCW, etc etc and declares as a fighting champion he'll take on all challengers. Bret walks down the aisle and states he never lost his world title, and immediately challenges Sting.

Flair and Hogan take issue with this - Hogan because he wants his rematch, Flair because he challenges Hart over who is the best (as it actually played out). Hogan takes the title from Sting in mid 98 after Hall and Nash form the Wolfpac and the NWO is disbanded in all but name, a few of his cronies help him take the title. Bret goes over Flair in the feud decider and sets his sights on Hogan, who he takes the belt from at Starrcade.

 

[Wald]

I'll admit, I didn't read this entire thread so if this idea was previously mentioned, sorry.

Anyways...I would have used the Montreal screwjob ending as a way to bring him into WCW. He never gave up, he was never pinned...he was "their" world champion and now he has come to visit WCW. The announcers would help and praise the shit out of him. Being surprised that he was here (like Scott Hall when he first arrived), but the only difference is, they respected him.

He didn't need to get involved in the Hogan vs Sting feud and interfere. Instead I would have sat his ass front row at ringside to watch Hollywood Hogan vs Sting for the WCW's heavyweight title at Starrcade. I would have had Sting beat Hogan CLEAN in the middle of the ring by tapping out to the scorpion death lock AKA the sharpshooter. Sting is crowned the new champion and Bret stands out of his chair and applauds.

Hart jumps the barracade, walks up the steps and gets into Stings face. The staredown with Sting holding the belt over his head with one arm and Bret smiling. The announcers (whoever they were at the time) would hype up this moment and claim that the two World champions are standing in the ring facing each other.

From that moment on Bret Hart would have instantly became the top 1 or 2 guys in the company. WCW had finally gotten the "other" champion and that we would finally find out after all these years who the real world's heavyweight champion truly was. Screw Hogan....this is a REAL dream match many hardcore fans wanted to see, I remember hearing it for YEARS. Now it would finally happen. Bret Hart's first match in WCW would be one of the biggest matches in his entire career.

How's that for a start?

This actually is exactly how it should have started.

Even if you wanted to prolong the Bret vs Sting feud you could have had them reluctantly team to fend off Hogan and the nWo for a couple of months before actually getting down to it.

All this is obviously hypothetical though, Nash & Hogan would never have let this happen