Savio Vega: King Of The Ring?

[The Brain]

King of the Ring 1995. Everyone’s favorite, right? No? Ok maybe not. This event seems to be pretty much universally criticized around here. Nobody liked the idea of Mabel winning the tournament. Of course this was done to establish Mabel as a legitimate contender for Diesel’s world title as the WWF was a little short on main event heels in 1995. Still though the fans hated it and Mabel is widely considered the worst King of the Ring winner.

There were some more favorable options to win the tournament that night. The obvious one was Shawn Michaels. HBK was widely popular as he just turned face a couple months earlier and it was obvious he would be world champion soon. The Undertaker was in the tournament so I’m sure many would have liked to see him win the crown. Jeff Jarrett may have been ok as he was pretty hot in 1995 but he didn’t even make the tournament. Obviously you read the title before clicking on this thread so there is no suspense for my suggestion but maybe Savio Vega should have won the tournament.

I know what you’re thinking. Savio Vega wouldn’t have been much better than Mabel. Maybe not, but he may have been worth a shot. I remember watching the ppv live that night and going into the show I wouldn’t have cared to see Vega win. As a matter of fact going into the show Vega wasn’t even in the tournament. He was a replacement for the injured Razor Ramon. You may remember in order to gain entry into the tournament a wrestler had to win a qualifying match. Vega wasn’t just handed Razor’s spot. He had to beat IRS during the pre show to earn his spot. After beating IRS Vega’s first round opponent was the near 600 pound Yokozuna in the opening match of the ppv. Vega was not only overmatched against the former world champion but he went immediately from one match to another while Yoko was competing in his first match. Vega was able to defeat Yoko by count out to move on to the next round. His next opponent was the Roadie and while a win over Roadie in 1995 wasn’t overly impressive Vega was still very new to the WWF so he was still proving himself too. After beating Roadie it was on to the final against Mabel. Thanks to a time limit draw between Shawn Michaels and Kama, Mabel was only wrestling his second match of the night. Vega was wrestling his fourth and was once again up against someone twice his size. The odds were stacked against Vega and by the time he got to the final I was caught up in his underdog story. I didn’t care about this guy three hours earlier but by the tournament final I really wanted to see him get the win. Overcoming the odds like that could have made Vega a popular and inspirational new star.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Savio Vega would have gone on to become a main event superstar or anywhere near a world champion. Maybe he would have made a good IC champ or at least a strong contender. I don’t know that Vega would have become more than he was but he was still so new and a tournament win under those circumstances would have been a good opportunity to make something out of him. What do you think of Savio Vega winning KOTR in 1995? Could this have worked or am I just going out of my way to find obscure old school topics to discuss?

 

[TheLoneCharles]

Back then it wasn't only thin for main event heels, the entire lower to midcard was pretty dreadful. Savio Vega was a cut above the likes of Rad Radford, Man Mountain Rock, Skip, etc. Had Savio won King of The Ring, he could have basically been in the role Dolph Ziggler has now. Instead, he didn't really do much of anything outside of being Razor Ramon's friend and later forming Los Boricuas (sp?).

I think it had to do with his look. Didn't have a great ring outfit, short, and kinda chunky. Although talented and for awhile quite over, it was evident why they went with the "larger than life sized" Mabel. King Vega could have been much better than what we got, because I was a regular fan back then and watching that Diesel and Mabel feud was torture. Fans critical of this era really need to go watch that era of wrestling.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

95 was a nadir for many, the pit of the WWF's talent and booking. Savio Vega was one of the few things they got right in that era. He'd been on the roster a while as Kwang but what you have to remember is that Juan "TNT" Rivera offered something genuinely different as a worker back then. He was a legit martial artist, athletic and perhaps the beta version of what Vince had wanted with Konnan/Max Moon. His push at KOTR was a classic way to blood an ethnic superstar... make him the underdog, have him overcome odds but come up JUST short. Just like Rocky... it's no coincidence that KOTR 95 was in Philly and they made reference to Stallone's character throughout the show about Vega... he was WWE's Rocky for a night... he didn't need to win to get over, the effort, the backing of Razor and the novelty of to causals a completley new force made it work.

The problem back then was Vince was intent on the next... Diesel was to be the new Hogan, so he needed a new threat - thus Mabel was perhaps intended to become the new Andre, but ended up the new Bundy despite Bundy being on the roster...

To an extent Vega was the new Pedro Morales or Tito Santana, an ethnic hero who would be a workhorse. That he could plug into the Kid/Ramon feud as the new sidekick was an added bonus. Should he have won that... no, not as booked. If you were gonna have him win he has to beat Yoko in the final, the former World champ and biggest man. Rightly or wrongly, Vince thought Mabel was the guy at the time and let's face it... had he NOT won that tourney, Taker would never have been injured at his hands and moved from "freaks and giants" to working with the main eventers...the streak as we know it would not exist, nor would the worker Taker became as he learned exponentially once he was working with Bret, Shawn and the like.

Savio Vega is one of those fond memories of a crap era, he was never gonna set the world on fire but he was a nice distraction from the "rome burning as Vince fiddles" that seemed to be going on in the rest of WWE at the time. Vince wasted a lot of talent at that time, Hakushi being the most criminal... Why did Savio and Hakushi not feud for the IC? Oh that's right, Scott or Shawn was hogging it for the Kliq... and that is the main reason why the era sucked and guys like Vega never really got to where they could...

 

[Y 2 Jake]

At the time Savio Vega would've been perfect for it. Only in hindsight would people say it was a bad move. WWE pushed him strong and he was over, despite him looking a lot like a tall midget due to his physique and unflattering ring attire. Him getting the spot would've just indicated to people that WWE had plans for him long term.

I'm probably alone in thinking that Mabel wasn't a wholly awful KOTR winner. I think they rushed his ascent and if they'd been a bit slower with it he could've been a very good mid-card heel. He certainly had longevity having worked on and off for WWE for nearly 15 years.

 

[Blade]

I wasn't a huge fan of Savio Vega, but I didn't actively dislike him like so many do with Mabel. But Vega had his fans, and could put on a decent match. He had some really good matches with Stone Cold a year later, including the oft-forgotten classic strap match.

What Vince didn't realise is that in 1995, it was a good product rather than a name that was a draw. That's why he booked Diesel vs. Mabel and that's why it failed. He assumed that two big, strong guys would be a draw, ignoring that the match was always going to be awful.

So yeah, Vega was never going to win the WWF title. But he would've gotten a decent match or two out of Diesel, and people would've cared. Vince is just lucky he had Austin right around the corner, considering he seemed intent on self-destructing his empire at the time.

 

[HBsam31]

I honestly didn't think Mabel was as bad of choice as others, but being the HBK fan that I am I was really looking for him to win the tournament in 95. Like the Brain said, he had just turned face, and I actually expected him to win. As far as Savio Vega goes, I think it would have been perfect. To win four matches in a night knocking off both Mabel and Yokozuna would have been pretty impressive and they easily could have built off of that. They could have turned Vega heel a little later, and if done correctly I think he could have been good for a title match or too. Mabel could have lost in the finals, and came out the next night attacking Diesel and been considered a credible challenge at the time just due to his size. Honestly though I didn't hate 95 as much as everyone else so I don't really have a problem with the way things went down. Savio Vega though would have been a good underdog story for KOTR that night.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

While I know WWE were limited in the amount of Main event level Heels at there disposal back in 95, But for me WWE could have easily held off on Turning Bam Bam face after Wrestlemania and instead kept Him as a member of the Corporation and had him go on to win the tornament. You could of had Bigalow and HBK switch places at the event witch would have made for a far better Storyline. As for Savio winning the Tornament instead of Mable, I Don't think it would have made much of a difference. Sure Vega was hands down a far better Wrestler then Mable and had quite a good fan base back then, But I Don't think Savio could have ever come off as a lagitimate Threat to Diesels title reign.

 

[justtxyank]

Bam Bam Bigelow having delayed heel turn, winning KOTR and then doing the job to Diesel at Summerslam would have been better for everyone. Better match for the fans, helped Diesel by having a good match, etc. Then you could have the face turn following the title match loss.

Bam Bam would have been better off, recovering a lot of the lost momentum from the loss to to LT at Wrestlemania.

Edit: Specifically to the thread suggestion, I don't think it would have been much better honestly. Anything he gained from the win would have been lost if they jobbed him to Diesel after that. Vega was better off with a slow build.

I do like the Double J suggestion. Jarrett is a guy who can get heat quickly, so having him winning KOTR would have worked. Have him face Savio in the finals and win by cheating. He gets a short mega push and gets killed by Diesel at Summerslam. Then feuds with Savio Vega after that. Could have worked.