So just randomly thinking about matches that I've heard were going to happen, and eventually didn't happen. This match always comes to the top of my mind. Summerslam 1993, the long lost rumored match of Bret Hart vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF title.
Why I think it sucks that this match didn't happen, for several reasons. Obviously the big one would be the symbolic passing of the torch. The story goes that Wrestlemania 9 finishes as is. Yoko defeats Bret for the Gold with Hogan coming down to save the day and win the title. This is where history and rumor collide. The story was supposed to be Hulk Hogan defeating Yokozuna at King of the Ring 1993, and Bret Hart winning the tournament, setting up a mega main event for that years Summerslam, The Former Champion and Current King of the Ring (and the Heir Apparent to the WWF Franchise) Bret Hart vs. the Current Champ Immortal Hulk Hogan.
This was supposed to be the fairwell match of Hulk Hogan. As we all know, Hogan tried to pass the torch before to the Warrior, but the fans didn't buy it and refused to let him go, wanting Hogan to remain the champion. This pretty much crushed any of Vince's plans of a WWF without Hulk Hogan. The fans simply refused to let him go at that point. But 3 years had advanced, and it was becoming very clear with an aging roster that Bret Hart was indeed going to be the man to lead the WWF ahead. Bret was an established mega star in the international market, but needed only a little something to solidify himself as the real deal stateside.
Enter Summerslam 1993. This is where Hart's personal dislike for Hogan takes place (granted Hart recognizes Hogan as the greatest ever, but it doesn't mean he has to like the guy.) Hogan didn't want to lose to Bret, which was a real shame. If Hogan would have tapped to the Sharpshooter, a huge torch would have been passed. Hogan wouldn't have looked bad, he simply lost to the young lion that was ready to take his spot. Instead, the politicking (this will be exactly one of two incidents where I despise Hogan for his backstage tactics, this and Starrcade 1997), led to a big man defeating Hogan in Yokozuna, and a franchise losing it's main star without establishing a legit new star. We were stuck with Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna, ya-awn.
I feel cheated as a fan for not getting this match. Sure we got a crap watered down version on Monday Nitro five years later, but that was beyond the point. I feel cheated because Bret Hart was the obvious leader of the WWF at that point, and Hogan didn't do what he was asked to do. I feel this leads to a bunch of Bret Hart's bad feelings about passing the torch to Michaels at Survivor Series. The torch wasn't passed to him by the man before him, so therefore why should he do the same thing that someone wasn't willing to do for him? Overall, this was truly an opportunity lost by the WWF, and it's a damn shame.
Why I think it sucks that this match didn't happen, for several reasons. Obviously the big one would be the symbolic passing of the torch. The story goes that Wrestlemania 9 finishes as is. Yoko defeats Bret for the Gold with Hogan coming down to save the day and win the title. This is where history and rumor collide. The story was supposed to be Hulk Hogan defeating Yokozuna at King of the Ring 1993, and Bret Hart winning the tournament, setting up a mega main event for that years Summerslam, The Former Champion and Current King of the Ring (and the Heir Apparent to the WWF Franchise) Bret Hart vs. the Current Champ Immortal Hulk Hogan.
This was supposed to be the fairwell match of Hulk Hogan. As we all know, Hogan tried to pass the torch before to the Warrior, but the fans didn't buy it and refused to let him go, wanting Hogan to remain the champion. This pretty much crushed any of Vince's plans of a WWF without Hulk Hogan. The fans simply refused to let him go at that point. But 3 years had advanced, and it was becoming very clear with an aging roster that Bret Hart was indeed going to be the man to lead the WWF ahead. Bret was an established mega star in the international market, but needed only a little something to solidify himself as the real deal stateside.
Enter Summerslam 1993. This is where Hart's personal dislike for Hogan takes place (granted Hart recognizes Hogan as the greatest ever, but it doesn't mean he has to like the guy.) Hogan didn't want to lose to Bret, which was a real shame. If Hogan would have tapped to the Sharpshooter, a huge torch would have been passed. Hogan wouldn't have looked bad, he simply lost to the young lion that was ready to take his spot. Instead, the politicking (this will be exactly one of two incidents where I despise Hogan for his backstage tactics, this and Starrcade 1997), led to a big man defeating Hogan in Yokozuna, and a franchise losing it's main star without establishing a legit new star. We were stuck with Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna, ya-awn.
I feel cheated as a fan for not getting this match. Sure we got a crap watered down version on Monday Nitro five years later, but that was beyond the point. I feel cheated because Bret Hart was the obvious leader of the WWF at that point, and Hogan didn't do what he was asked to do. I feel this leads to a bunch of Bret Hart's bad feelings about passing the torch to Michaels at Survivor Series. The torch wasn't passed to him by the man before him, so therefore why should he do the same thing that someone wasn't willing to do for him? Overall, this was truly an opportunity lost by the WWF, and it's a damn shame.