If You Could...

[Kaptain Klobber]

Here's an interesting idea I had. Let's say you had the power to either raise the dead or go back in time and take someone back with you. Let's say then you want to change a storyline up by adding a great character from the past, living or otherwise. Who would you "call up"? Would you give Captain Lou Albano to Ryback as a manager to combat lesner and Heyman? Would you call in Abdula the Butcher to battle the real Americans in handicap? How about bringing back good old Eddie Guerrero just for the hell of it. You have the power. you must choose. WHO WOULD YOU BRING BACK FROM WRESTLING PAST? WHERE WOULD YOU PUT THEM? WHY?

 

[MCMG]

Basically, who is my favourite wrestler that has passed away. If I could raise the dead... can I also change the deceased's final moments because then my answer is Benoit. My decision there being that he was such a fantastic wrestler and I loved watching him in the ring.

 

[theuk savior]

mine would be mr perfect and Davey boy smithy to show to team up and take on there on there sons Curtis axel and d h smith in a tag match and then maybe team with there sons and have a match against each other my dream matches there

 

[Softcore Holly]

For me it would be Eddie Guerrero. Amazing in the ring and the mic, amazing as a heel and a face, and definitely on top of my list of stars that has fallen far too soon. If I could bring him back at the age he died(38) I would immediately stick him with ADR as a tag team. For one ADR will only get better being around Eddie, and when they eventually split their match would be off the charts.

Ah I wish wellness was around and in full force before Eddie/Benoit died, but some lessons are sadly enough learned the hard way.

 

[Galvatron]

I would bring back Pillman and also have it that he didn't destroy his ankle in a car crash. I would like to have seen the feuds a 100% healthy Pillman would have had in the Attitude Era. I would also like to see if he would have won the WWF Championship at some point during the era.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

Great topic, OP.

I think my natural answer to this would be Eddie Guerrero, but since he's been said a few times over, I'm going to go with another, equally exciting route...

Owen Hart.

The problem with bringing back to life a WWE/WWF Superstar is that most of them died due to their life style choices and their personal vices. Owen Hart is not that case. I would love to be able to give a family back a husband and father who, through unfortunate circumstance, was taken far too early.

Even going a pure wrestling/entertainment reason, Owen was, in my opinion, the most talented Hart when it came to in ring ability. I would love to see the matches he would have inevitably put on with guys like Guerrero, Benoit, Jericho, Edge, RVD and nowadays Punk, Cena, and Bryan.

If only I actually had this power...

 

[CrunKSinatrA]

I would also bring back Andre the Giant but not for a match... but to teach a lesson.

I'd have the Giant do a run in for the Brock Lesnar/Bill Goldberg match. Goldberg doesn't win the match anymore, but Andre comes out and whoops both of their rudy poo candy asses for reals.

Then Andre slams a couple a beers with Stone Cold, then whoops up on Stone Cold also. Andre clears the ring, then Bobby Heenan cuts a promo about loving wrestling and how the business doesn't need prima donnas. Now WWE stays protected in spite of losing three big stars.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Pillman, I'd drive him home that night myself!!! I get he was celebrating signing with WWE but drink driving is a stupid thing to do and it cost him his rightful place at the head of what became attitude.

Failing that I'd stop NJPW from using that ridiculous ramp for Sting v Rude so Rude didn't get his career ending injury.

Bringing someone from the past would be lame in that what made them great wouldn't necessarily translate and people would wonder what the fuss is about. The one guy I wish was still able to do as he did was Heenan. Even now at his age he would be wonderful to watch manage the younger guys... He'd have made Ziggler, Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan far quicker.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I'm glad people are posting answers. See? You can have some silly fun with these forums, guys. It's not hard...and is actually a lot more interesting than arguing over whether the Iron Man Match at XII was classic or boring as hell.

As for this topic, of course, Owen Hart not trying that stunt would be my first one.

I would also like to go back and see a lot more of a healthy Dynamite Kid. Actually, the Bulldogs as a team. I would love to see them face all kinds of teams from different eras.

I would like to prevent Paul Orndorff's injury and see what he could do in the late 80s/early 90s.

I would go back and tell Hogan what a bitch he was sometimes. Countout at inaugural Survivor Series, getting eliminated from the 89 Rumble, pulling Sid out of the 92 Rumble, etc.

I would ask Steamboat to wear a condom, as Richie never became a star and that little brat cost us a good IC title run. Though I would have him lose it later to Honky, as that was a great cowardly heel IC run itself.

I would ask the great Bobby Heenan to not ask "But whose side is he on?" as Hogan came down the aisle to be revealed as the 3rd man.

I would tell Papa Shango to hit his cue and I would tell Hogan to fuck off....thus saving the partially ruined endings of consecutive WrestleManias. To that end, I would have Warrior grow his hair longer so he looked like himself and made his return that much better, without the "is that really Warrior?" element.

I would put WrestleMania IX in an arena, rather than the desert. This would help it's credibility and it would be seen as less of a disappointment. Highly underrated, in my opinion.

That's a good start...

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

The big one that I would've changed would've been Magnum T.A. I'm not certain if saving his career from that car accident would've made a difference in the NWA, but I would've really liked to have seen a wrestling world that had him in it, at the top of his game, alongside guys like Flair, Sting, and Luger.

 

[Slash-LN]

Since everyone I would have initially picked has already been mentioned I'll just add

Lance Cade and Test.

I'm sure neither would have ever been a world champion or anything but I really liked Test when he was around and when he came back on ECW I was stoked.

Lance Cade was just really young and if he hadn't had the issues with drugs and stuff he could have had another run in WWE. At least.

Last I'd like to mention Kerry Von Erich. I liked him during his WWF days and a friend of mine who only watched wrestling if he was watching at my house loved him. So I would bring him back and see what he could be minus the drugs and stuff. Although I doubt he would fit in today's product.

 

[harrythem]

I'd bring back Owen Hart, but mainly so I don't have to put up with hearing the "Owen should be in the Hall Of Fame" stuff that I always hear (and don't agree with, but that's covered elsewhere).

I'd bring the Bulldog back as well, firstly so he could slap the shit out of his son for being stupid enough to take steroids after seeing the effect that had on his family (Bulldog & Dynamite) and, secondly, because I wouldn't mind having seen him do a legends spot when Raw has been tapped over in the uk (possibly one of the biggest pops ever IMO)

 

[Pedigree1]

Okay I will play along! Assuming with Todays medicine and nutrition information the possibilities are endless! I would like to raise Mr Andre the Giant from the dead,have him in his prime,and with todays medicine and nutritional information out there! Get him some help,treat his Gigantism to make him live longer and healthier! As far as matches go,if he would to be treated with todays medicine I like him to face the Undertaker at WM! If Andre was lighter the Taker and Andre the Giant match would be off the chains!

That would be a truly special match if we could make it happen

 

[The Boss]

Well if it doesn't have to be someone dead then I'd choose HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN of 1982 so that we could re-live all 30+ years of HULKAMANIA all over again!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kaptain Klobber]

See, it's not so bad (yeah I'm looking at you feedback ). Ok, my turn. I would bring back the Road Warriors in their prime from the late 80s early 90s. Imagine the matches Animal and Hawk would have vs the Rhodes brothers or the shield. In singles competition I would bring back THE IRON SHEIK in his prime to face down Jack Swagger.

 

[Winds-Of-Change]

Ravishing Rick Rude and Mr Perfect.

Bring Hennig back to manage his son, Curtis Axel. Possibly even win tag team gold.

And Rude for a decent run during the Attitude Era.

 

[lowandmighty]

I'd bring back Andre the Giant. Then people might finally see that you need to earn respect before you can go over the older guys.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It's a hard choice, there are many wrestlers from the past that I would like to bring back.

However, my pick isn't a superstar who died, I am going to go for a retired wrestler instead, and that man would be "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels from the mid-90s, when he was at his absolute best.

With the Wellness testing that now exists in WWE, Shawn would not have had the substance abuse issues that he was dealing with at this time, and could have just concentrated on going out and stealing the show every night as he did back then. A dengenerate-era HBK could help drag the WWE out of its current PG style and back towards a more adult-themed show, and due to the advances in medical technology since the mid 1990s, if Shawn suffered his devastating back injury now, he would recover alot faster and wouldn't need the several years off.

A young Shawn Michaels now would be exactly what the WWE needs- the perfect opposite to the goody-too-shoes John Cena, and he could be the man to become the new face of the company. A young HBK in matchups against the likes of Punk, Bryan, Orton, Cena and many others would be incredible.

 

[Kris Benwa]

Even though he's not dead I pick Edge and make it so that he doesn't have any career threatening injuries and had the drive to continue wrestling for at least a 5 more years. Also I wouldn't want to use all of my power on this but I'd bring Paul Bearer back for 5 minutes so he, Kane, and Undertaker could end their careers on the biggest stage of em all WRESTLEMANIA!!! Other than Edge and maybe Owen Hart or Pillman I don't think I'd even think about bringing someone else back because I remember Benoit was planning to retire pretty soon before his death and I think Eddie only had a few years on him. Actually fuck it, retired guy is Edge, Dead guy for 5 minutes Paul Bearer, and dead guy until they die another way is Eddie Guerrero.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

I would bring back Andre The Giant and have him feud with Big Show and the Great Khali. Larger than life guy against the current big guys of the WWE.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I'm amazed no one has said "I'd tell Benoit he couldn't go home that weekend." But hey, woulda just happened next time he did or he'd have flipped in public. By taking someone as they were, you bring their flaws too.

Kinda the same deal for Kerry and 90's Shawn. To help Kerry you'd have to go all the way back to that night in Japan and save David... Or even to their infant brother... Most of Kerry's problems were down to Fritz losing that first son. There wasn't a way to erase all the demons Kerry had.

It's not as simple to say mid nineties Shawn would be fine cos of Wellness... he could barely stay employed then without a policy!, being fired twice and suspended often. That Shawn would still party, lie and get into brawls nd scrapes be like Orton is, on the bubble.

Saying Davey would slap Harry for roids is wrong, Davey of then was a live for the moment guy who would not have cared about consequences. Likewise for Hennig, they lived fast, knew they were risking their kids not having dads but did it anyway. If you take them in their physical prime, that is their mindset at those times.

 

[Rotterdam]

I would bring back Test, just so he can show Sheamus how a big boot is done.

 

[harrythem]

With saying Davey would slap Harry for the roids, I was going from the "bringing them back from the dead" angle on that one. Even though he was a drug addled bloke pretty much his entire adult life I would say that, if presented with his son making the same choices that he had been making, he would do his best to discourage him from them.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

He was... He teamed with Harry remember so he knew his son was part of the business and didn't change his ways. Just as Hennig knew Joe wanted to be a wrestler. Both guys knew they had impressionable sons and didn't care enough to change.. Eddie tried but the damage was done.

 

[Kaptain Klobber]

One more from me: I would resurrect Mr. Fuji in his prime from the late 80s and give him to Yoshi Tatsu. It could be a solid move to face swagger or Cesaro or something