What Could Have Been

[Steve-O-Matt]

Has there been feud you've always wanted to see, but it never happened because one of the guys retired too fast? How about tag teams that would work great together but one of the guys got pushed far past the other where it just wouldn't be realistic any more? I can think of a few and I'm sure you can too. So this thread is simple: What could have been?

Great Tag Team
The Celtic Connection, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. During the days of FCW, I heard these guys had some great matches together, I would have loved to see them team up during the days of Drew being the chosen one and Sheamus just coming in. But now with 3MB and the fact that Sheamus is multi-time world champion, it just wouldn't work the same sadly...

Great Match
I'm gonna say this now, I'm sure a lot of you immediately think of. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. CM Punk. Now, now, I'm sure a lot of you were thinking "Steve, you're talking loco, that match was never going to happen!" Before Punk walked, I would have highly disagreed. Stone Cold said he would only have one more match with certain cirumstances and I was never sure Punk's stance on the whole idea, but that possibilty was still there. Just enough to give us hope. But with Punk gone, even if he comes back, that match will never happen now, he's burnt too many bridges. Such a shame.

Now it's your turn, I'll leave it to you: What could have been?

Also try and think of some obscure ones no one would think of, mostly involving guys on the current roster if you can.

 

[alex_green]

Tag team match for me would be the Brothers of Destruction Vs Natural Disaster just to see who would be left standing. The tag names relate to each other so easily.

had Taker not wanted it to be Brock to defeat the streak i'd have said Taker Vs Kane a 3 stages of hell - Steel Cage, Falls Count Anywhere, Buried Alive. Though sounding very extreme it would have been a perfect send off to the streak. Nothing to say that it won't still happen but I doubt Taker can take that sort of brutality any more.

don't know what anyone else thinks.

 

[Steve-O-Matt]

One thing that almost didn't happen, which I'm glad it did, was Shield vs. Wyatts. I was afraid they would keep them far from each other and we'd never see that. But I'm happy we did see that at Elimination Chamber, perfect match. Although the other two matches weren't very interesting, they probably should have just had that one match. Then they could leave that as a high and rematch people want to see, but are left with the desire for it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As far as singles matches go, a few immediately spring to mind.

The Undertaker vs. John Cena at WrestleMania - Let's be honest, the streak was the one mountain that John Cena hadn't conquered and now he never will. It would've been pretty easy to get people to buy into the idea of Cena ending the streak given that he's been the company's golden boy for the past decade.

Daniel Bryan vs. Shawn Michaels - This was a bout that, for a while, we thought we might see at WrestleMania XXX. The idea of the teacher vs. student storyline would've sold itself and the notion of Michaels coming out of retirement for just one more match would be a big draw. As HBK had screwed Bryan over, it was natural to want revenge. Since Bryan is a student of the game and respects the legends, I could see him interrupting Taker in the ring, walking up to him man to man, explaining why he's interrupted him in that he wants HBK. He'd tell Taker that since he's the one who ended Michaels' career, he felt it only proper to walk up to him to sort of ask his blessing before officially making his challenge. That doesn't mean that HBK would automatically just come out of retirement, Bryan could goad him into it in the coming weeks via promos and maybe even an attack. I think fans could get a kick out of a young guy with an old school mentality like Bryan approaching a legend in such a way. Of course, this would've depended upon how much ring rust there was, how he was feeling, his state of health in general, etc.

 

[MCMG]

I'll agree Cena v Taker could have been magical. The idea of the WWE's golden boy ending the streak would have great to watch. IF he did it perhaps wouldn't be as shocking as Brock but it would be awesome nonetheless. Moreover, I reckon they would have put on a better match.

The obvious one is Shawn Michaels vs The Rock. In my opinion, the greatest in ring-performer and the greatest talker of all time and both wrestled in the same eras but never faced off, strange. WM 19 and 20 are the only Wrestlemania's they both wrestled at and Shawn put a classic on in both. It is difficult to say it should have happened but it would have been an awesome option.

It's a shame they never wrestled. Shawn was big before The Rock broke through and The Rock returned after Shawn retired. It would never draw the numbers like Rock v Cena. It would never, in terms of quality, top Shawn v Taker but it is a match and feud I would have paid anything to see.

 

[JJV]

The Undertaker vs John Cena
This is one of the biggest dream matches that never took place. They had a PPV match at Vengeance 2003, but since Cena became the guy, he never had a big match with Taker.

Shawn Michaels vs Rock, Daniel Bryan
Bryan is overrated. His run as champ has been so darn boring, owing to a terrible feud with Kane. But his storyline with the Authority and his road to Wrestlemania was awesome, which means if he gets a good storyline he can do great. A Wrestlemania match with HBK would have been HUGE.
Then there is Rock. This guy has faced all the big guys in the WWE, even CM Punk, but not HBK! They don't even need a build up to sell. All they need to do is announce HBK vs Rock for Wrestlemania; it's a dream match that never took place and I don't think is ever gonna take place

CM Punk vs Stone Cold

The Undertaker vs Rock, Stone Cold at Wrestlemania

The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt
These guys could have had a great feud if Taker was not a part-timer. At least if he had Jericho's type of contract, he could have had a great feud with Wyatt. Or at least, they could just have a long build up, like for about 4-5 months, before finally having a match. Their promos and the match itself would have been terrific.

Shawn Michaels vs CM Punk
This was another dream match of mine that never took place.

Bret Hart vs Daniel Bryan
If Hart could put up the kind of matches he put up back in the 90s, this would be a terrific match. But after seeing how he is in the ring now, no way in hell do I want to watch this!

Now tag teams...
Real Americans
These guys were awesome. They just needed a good storyline.

Rhodescholars

Miz and R-Truth

Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre
Lot of people might not even remember this team; they held the tag team championships in 2010


Right now, I would actually like to see the gm or someone force Sandow and Cena to be a tag team, with Sandow being a tweener. They can hold on to the tag team championships like Team hell no, an unlikely pairing, before Sandow turns on Cena and begins a feud with him. Sandow can claim that he went down after losing to Cena.
The problem with champions these days is that they don't have good competition. WWE should build up the superstars they have. Dolph Ziggler, Damien Sandow, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, Titus O'Neil, Curtis Axel and Ryback as a tag team ('cause individually, I find these guys very boring), Alberto Del Rio, Fandango, Drew McIntyre (this guy deserves so much more than what he's getting now. They still have time to build him back up. It'll take time, but they can do it). Not all of them are main event level superstars, but they can be great mid carders like Roddy Piper and Razor Ramon. You don't have to be a main event talent to be a legend.

 

[wrestler36]

Kurt Angle versus Bret Hart would have been an absolute wrestling clinic. This would have been amazing to see. But, after a botched Goldberg kick, Hart had to retire and didn't return to WWE for 13 yrs

Kurt Angle versus CM Punk. Angle was on his way out and Punk was just getting started in WWE. Not initially, but once Punk really got hot like in 2011, this would have been amazing.

Goldberg vs Undertaker. Granted on paper, this is a lot cooler than what would happen in reality, especially if it were to happen now. But even in 2003, UT would have been like 12-0 or something at WM. Goldberg would have been debuting and could have built up the greatest streak ever vs UT wrestlemania streak. Unfortunately, Golberg left after a year

Edge vs Daniel Bryan would have been cool. I'm sure Edge would revive his Rated R gimmick with AJ when she was with DB. That would have been a good match/storyline.

Lesnar vs Austin - still can happen. You can hear Austin mulling it over on his podcast with Heyman. This is the reason Austin walked out in 2002 because there was no back story to Lesnar.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Goldberg - Funny how Goldberg debuted for the WWE just one day after Austin retired. If Goldberg had come in one year earlier or Austin had hung in just a little more longer, we could've seen these two finally go at it. Austin and Goldberg would interact a lot on Raw in 03-04 but we never got to see the match.

Shawn Michaels vs. Brock Lesnar - Michaels puts on the best David vs. Goliath matches you'll ever see and unfortunately this is one WWE missed out on in 02-04. I had some hope that Michaels would come out of retirement and WWE would book it after Lesnar broke his arm last year.

Shawn Michaels vs. Eddie Guerrero - I've heard this was one of the original plans for Wrestlemania 22 and what a great match it could've been if Eddie had not passed away several months earlier.

 

[wrestler36]

Shawn Michaels vs. Eddie Guerrero - I've heard this was one of the original plans for Wrestlemania 22 and what a great match it could've been if Eddie had not passed away several months earlier.

Oh, wow. How did I miss this one? Yeah, this match would have been legendary. I can see this one not having a definitive winner, like a small package type win. And then them feuding over the next few PPVs. But yeah, this would have been THE match of the PPV, hands down

 

[d_henderson1810]

One thing that almost didn't happen, which I'm glad it did, was Shield vs. Wyatts. I was afraid they would keep them far from each other and we'd never see that. But I'm happy we did see that at Elimination Chamber, perfect match. Although the other two matches weren't very interesting, they probably should have just had that one match. Then they could leave that as a high and rematch people want to see, but are left with the desire for it.

Even though this is MOTY so far, I think that they could have added that Shield v The Wyatts be inside an Elimination Chamber, and have a 6-Man Elimination Chamber Match (where one member of each team starts, and then others are added to make it 2 v 2, 1 v 3, and any combination of people from one team against the other. With the styles that both teams fight with, having it inside the Chamber would make it a lock for 2014 MOTY.

 

[MC_Live]

Hogan vs. Flair from WrestleMania 8 and Hogan vs. Austin from WrestleMania 18. The flair Savage match and the Hogan Rock matches were both fantastic classics. But these are the matches we should have seen. These were the true "who's the biggest name in the industry" feuds that should have gone down. Unfortunately,it can only happen in WWE 2K14. Those are my biggest What Could Have Been Matches.

 

[TheJF]

Tag Team

I'm gonna have to go with the Kings of Wrestling, both were under contract and I feel that KoW would have been a gret way to debut Cesaro and Ohno. They would have been a nice addition to the failing tag division at the time and could have had a great run as dominant heel champs.

Match/Feud

Couple of obvious 1s but for me Hogan/Flair, Rock/Michaels and Hogan/Austin all should/could have happened but for some reason never did.

 

[FlairFan2003]

A lot of times with "What Could Have Been" there were behind the scenes issues that derailed the stories. Hogan leaving WWE abrubtly as the Federal Steroid Investigation closed in pretty much ended any chance of him challenging Flair for the World Title at WM 8 unless WWE was going to book him (their Franchise and Greatest Star) to lose to Flair, his greatest rival nationally in terms of prominence with fans, at the biggest show of the year, with no idea when (or if) he would ever get a re match (Not likely). Austin clearly had issues with Hogan by WM 18. Sting never signed with WWE when he was still a viable Main Event Star robbing us of a potentially awesome Sting-Taker run. Goldberg wasn't around long enough for a run vs Taker, after his initial run vs HHH/Evolution he was already planning his leave. Hart and Angle simply were in two different times (although Hart's injuries ended his career prematurely, if not for that he would have been young enough, early to mid 40s, to still put on great matches and have a run vs Angle). None of that was really bad booking or bad creative decisions by WWE. HBK-Rock supposedly was another one where there were alleged backstage issues between the two, plus the timing with HBK's injury hiatus killed it (right when Rock was climbing and reaching main event status HBK was gone and didn't return for for four years, at which time Rock was scaling back, he was gone a year later).

Cant blame WWE for those misses, as big as they were, all lost due to factors outside their control.

 

[Kliq69]

Hogan vs. Flair from WrestleMania 8 and Hogan vs. Austin from WrestleMania 18. The flair Savage match and the Hogan Rock matches were both fantastic classics. But these are the matches we should have seen. These were the true "who's the biggest name in the industry" feuds that should have gone down. Unfortunately,it can only happen in WWE 2K14. Those are my biggest What Could Have Been Matches.

This... Especially Hogan vs Flair. Flair walks into the company holding the NWA title, proclaiming himself the real World Champ. Hogan is, well Hogan. At that time, there were no bigger stars on the planet in terms of wrestling. WWF had a chance to grab a huge portion of the southern fans with this match and failed to do so. If done right, there is a good chance WCW doesn't survive long enough to even offer Hogan a contract.

The others?

Austin vs Goldberg. For obvious reasons, very similar in appearances, and it was one of the main fantasy matchups of the late 90s.

Punk vs Bryan, Iron Man Match: I've seen what these two guys could do with a long match in the indies. This could have been the best match WWE has ever put on from a purely match quality standpoint.

Benoit vs Jericho vs Guerrero. We had the poor man's version with Angle instead of Guerrero, but these three guys could have put on one hell of a match, and Eddie/Jericho could have easily sold it on the mic. Similar to the 3-ways over in WAR, this would have been an instant classic.

Tazz... No specific matchups, but if ECW's Taz had a chance to show what he could do once he landed in the big leagues, it would have been a sight to behold. Why he wasn't given the Hardcore title and just allowed to demolish that entire division is beyond me.

LOD vs Dudleyz. The top two tag teams (arguably of course) of all time. Never faced each other. Personally, I think the gap between the greatest team (LOD) and the 2nd spot (Dudleyz) is like the Grand Canyon, but in the minds of most fans that isn't the case. Chicago St fight or just an old-school brawl and this match would have been on highlight dvd after highlight dvd for the next century.

Big Show: Like Tazz, not really any specific matchups, but going from his spot in WCW of top level talent to midcard/jobber at different times in his WWE career just reeks of a mistake. This guy could have been the reincarnation of Andre, only with a wider variety of in-ring moves (top rope drop kick from a giant...) He's had a decent career, but I just don't think he ever was allowed to become who/what he should have been.

Owen as WWF champ. After the rest of the Foundation left for WCW, he should have been pushed to the moon. He could talk, very few alive could out-work him, and outside of the "fluke" accident with Austin, was very safe in the ring. There was no reason, besides the bad blood between Bret/Vince and Austin/Owen that he wasn't higher up on the card. He could have been a member of the Corporation, aligning with Vince despite Vince's treatment of Bret.

Sean O'Haire (and the rest of the Natural Born Thrillers): WCW had it right with these guys. They had money written on them, but poor personal choices and horrible creative booking destroyed the careers of each and every one of them.

Lance Storm: Vince Russo's greatest angle in WCW was putting every belt outside the big belt on Storm at his debut. The guy was a machine in the ring and was as good as Bret on the mic. Russo should have put him over the top with the WCW title (better choice than Jarrett, Steiner, Booker, or any of the wasted reigns of the last year of WCW). WWE didn't do much better. Sure Storm struck first blood during the Invasion, winning the IC title, but he could have and should have been more. I'd like to think if his injuries weren't as bad as they were, he'd have gotten close to the top when Eddie/Benoit got there.

Brock Lesnar's return: They had a former UFC champion, a legitimate badass in the eyes of the main stream media return and they immediately killed the idea having him lose to Cena. They further damaged him with a loss to HHH. How much bigger/better would the Streak match this year have seemed if Lesnar walked into the event undefeated since his return.