What if it was Vince instead of Owen??

[Mighty NorCal]

Its fairly common knowledge that Vince Mcmahon preforms all stunts he asks his superstars to do before events, to show that himself would do anything he asks them to, and to test the safety for his men.

on the fatefull day Owen Hart fell to his death, Vince had tested out that very same vest, that very same day. The vest malfunctioned for Owen, becuase of a rumored improper shift of weight by Owen himself. The question I pose here is....

What wouldve happened had the vest broke on Vince?? and it was Vince who fell to his death?? What would THAT raw the night after been like?? What wouldve happened to the WWE?? What wouldve happened in the Monday Night War?? WHAT THE FUCK WOULDVE HAPPENED??

Personally, its hard for me to even fathom. Not only the WWE without Vince, but with the sudden death of Vince, during the monday night wars. I can only think that things would have unraveled, and fallen apart. Im just not sure if Shane OR Steph were seasoned enough at the time to lead the WWE succesfully, and certainley not to a win in the war. At the same time, they DID have Austin, who was a rising pheonix of heat at the time. Its hard to say. I think the WWE probably wouldve survived on the popularity of DX, Austin, and The Rock, along with Taker....and since WCW self destructed primarily, they still may have gone under....who knows.

What do you guys think??

 

[NSL]

We wouldn't have all these fake-death stunts by Vince...

On a serious note, RAW would've tanked, and taken WWF/E with it. Everyone would've tuned in for a week or two to see what happened, and then stopped watching. WCW still would have imploded. ECW would've imploded. Professional wrestling would be dead. Indy federations would've stayed alive, and maybe around now one or two would start hitting it big. It would've killed professional wrestling as a national entity, and it would've went back to "region-based".

In an odd way, after explaining my thoughts in print, it almost seems as if it would've killed and saved professional wrestling simultaneously. Odd...

 

[klunderbunker]

WWE loses, end of argument.

It's pretty much a given fact that without Austin, WWE loses. Without an evil man to fight, Austin is just a loud guy that flips people off and drinks. Without Vince there, there is no Texas Rattlesnake. There's no authority for Austin to rebel against. The same can be said of DX. Stephanie was what, in her early 20s back then? Shane maybe 30? No way could they take on the still very strong WCW at the time. With no Austin there's no Rock and the list goes on of all the guys that Austin elevated during taht run. Without Rock there's no HHH to help bring him to the top and vice versa. Everything unravels just from the talent point of view, and not even bringing in that Vince is a brilliant businessman. WWE loses the war. That's what if.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

would they have though?? Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but didnt the incident occur in may?? That was WELL after the Austin star was burning bright, and the new DX was already firmly entrenched battling with the NOD. Austin had already won the title, and had a huge amount of momentum. DX has already been raising hell for 6 months by that time. I dont think it wouldve been totally over, as the fact also remains that the downfall of WCW was harly becuase of anything the WWE did...

 

[NSL]

would they have though?? Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but didnt the incident occur in may?? That was WELL after the Austin star was burning bright, and the new DX was already firmly entrenched battling with the NOD. Austin had already won the title, and had a huge amount of momentum. DX has already been raising hell for 6 months by that time. I dont think it wouldve been totally over, as the fact also remains that the downfall of WCW was harly becuase of anything the WWE did...

DX was going strong, but the feud with NOD was only a part of what made them big. Without the Corporation, DX and NOD would've had nothing to go with after their feud. The Ministry was there, but only got huge after joining the Corporation. It may have succeeded for a short while, but once the current angles were done, WWE would've been done.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm not sure I agree with the last part there, about WWF doing nothing. For the most part it was WCW somehow managing to blow the biggest lead possible by doing dumb thing after dumb thing, it was WWF that did everything right to catch up with them. Imagine if Vince had pushed the wrong guy? Everyone in WWF played things perfectly in order to beat WCW.

As for the rest of what you said, I think that's all true. However, two things. Austin was about to go out for neck surgery that fall. Losing easily your biggest star right after losing Vince would have been even more devastating. Austin miught have put the surgery back and further injured himself. Second, even with them being as over as they were, could they really keep being the characters they were after Vince died? Maybe, but I'd think it would be a bit harder to accept.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Plain and simply, W.C.W. would either still be around to this day, or they'd be a company that isn't owned by the W.W.E. Because I don't think Shane, Stephanie or Linda would've thought to buy-out the company.. rather than let it just die off.

I think the shock-waves of that type of death would've made waves for weeks, leading into monthes, more so than a single day leading into a Raw tribute show, like Owen's death did.

I mean, taking nothing away from Owen Hart, but you're taking about vastly different people. An owner of a huge franchise company, or a mid-carder that was honestly sucking tit on a stupid gimmick that never got him over with in the beginning.

McMahon's death would've been talked about, openly and on-air, for likely all of May and into June. They may of even taken a week or two off to simply gather themselves.

During that period of time, I would've fully expected Eric Bischoff to lead the charge into making W.C.W. a dagger that he'd then try fully driving deep into the already weakened heart of the W.W.F. All emotions and respect aside, it's a business and as such, you need to strike when opportunity presents itself. No better time would've came then that type of moment.

Hell, I wouldn't even put it passed Bischoff but to play off McMahon's death as well. Make W.W.F. look even worse for it. Bischoff would've been the most cruel, evil son of a bitch around.. but it would've gotten his company ratings. And taken focus off an attitude era of Superstars, all suddenly unsure of where they'd go, or what's about to happen.

Furthermore, speaking of the Superstars, I could see a HUGE shift in power with those having the ability to opt. out of contract to jump ship as fast as they could, believing that the kids and the Wife couldn't possibly run the company. And if that were to have happened, who ultimately knows what would've came to be.

 

[NSL]

Let's look at what WWE lost, and would lose, for each situation.

At the time of the fall, Owen was a comedy face. Everyone loved him, but he wasn't exactly heading for anything of importance. After his death, WWE kpet chugging along, with stars like Austin, Undertaker, Triple H, The Rock, and Shawn Michaels. For a period of time, they were very faction based, with DX, Nation of Domination, The Ministry, and The Corporation as the main groups. Owen was a part of the Nation, but had moved on from there by the time of his death.

Vince on the other hand, is the owner of WWE. If he would've died, we all know that the WWE would've fallen to shambles. They had huge stars, but they were still behind in ratings. There's no way that they would've held viewers following his loss. The storylines that were currently happening would have continued, but as soon as they were done, where would the new material come from? Shane? Stephanie? Linda? I don't think so. They would've been left to steal ideas from an already successful WCW, and would've fallen apart within months. Vince was the ultimate heel through the Attitude era. No one was hated more than him. As KB said, what would Ausitn have been without Vince? A pissed off redneck that drinks too much. Triple H wasn't near the level he ended up attaining either.

At the risk of sounding like a complete douchebag, WWE is lucky it was Owen in the harness, and not Vince. Vince's fake-death angles did nothing for the company, so imagine how bad a real death would've been. The controversy stirred up by Owen dying, did more for the WWE than Owen ever did also.

I liked Owen as a wrestler, and was crushed when he died. But, for the sake of the WWE, they're better off with Vince as chairman, than with Owen as The Blazer.

 

[HBK-aholic]

The WWE would be nothing. Vince McMahon is WWE, and I firmly believe he's the reason it is what it is today. If he'd have died at such an instrumental time in the history of WWE, and professional wrestling, I don't think we'd even have a full professional wrestling industry.

I'm a critic of WCW, and I don't think it was strong enough to have the longetivity the WWE has. When WCW was popular, I think it was more down to the fact WWE didn't have anything new, and people were addicted more to the difference of WCW. In the end, the longetivity won, and that was down to McMahon. That being said, I agree with an earlier post saying we'd have a lot of indy feds, maybe a few 'breaking through' but nothing to the extent we have today.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

I for one dont think WWE would have fallen apart. If it happened 2 years earlier than yes maybe but at the time it happened the pieces were already in place. Austin was already huge, The Rock was huge, Foley was getting big and then you still had the ministry and the Corporation among other things. Sure the Corporation may have taken a major blow without Vince but Shane could have stepped in and been the owner and leader of it. So whether Austin was raising hell against Vince or against Shane either way he would have been raising hell against his boss which was key to his popularity. I also think people are selling the rest of the McMahon's short. Yes they may not be Vince McMahon but I still would say that they know what they are doing, atleast they know enough not to screw up what the WWE already had going at the time.

So although I think the initial shock of it would hurt the WWE and it may have taken a few steps back, the amount of talent they had would eventually over come that.

 

[Wonka]

Wow, this discussion made it to the main page and has caused me to sign-in for the first time in months.

When Vince really does die, I think the WWE will die with him. WWE isn't exactly as entertaining as it used to be when they were being competitive anyway. They have had so many scandals to deal with and when Vince dies, the other McMahons will quickly sell their stock and the WWE will die. So if this had happened instead of Owen, the WWE would have never been what it is today (a publicly traded entertainment company). Shane doesn't know what he is doing, and if Stephanie ever gets a divorce from HHH then he will not be around to run the company (he is their only hope really) he has an ego bigger than Vince's and he knows what fans want because he has delivered it. Anyway, that's my two cents.

 

[The Big Gunnzbowski]

What would have happened? Simple...

Vince would have died, Owen would have fucked over HHH, HHH would have never fucked Stephanie, Stephanie would have probably fucked Hulk Hogan, Hulk Hogan would have still fucked the fans, The fans would have still fucked WCW, WCW would have still fucked itself, Eric Bischoff probably still would have fucked Ted Turner in his wallet, Ted Turner would have fucked the McMahons by buying WWE, The WWE would have fucking sucked and The Macho Man would have ended up in the Hall Of Fame...Randy Savage, would in the end, be the only person who wins here. So, in essence, the term "We'd All Be Fucked" really does mean what it's meant to mean... So, We should all stand up in unison and say, "Thank you, Owen Hart!"

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Some people need to recollect their memories. DX was dead at this point. Triple H had turned on X-Pac at WM and it was only Road Dogg and X-Pac as a tag team. Billy Gunn had left the group as well. The Ministry was going strong. I belive they were just about to reveal the Higher Power as well. So obviously that storyline would have been fucked up a little bit.

In all honesty though. At this point nobody was really ready to take the WWE from Vince. Sure they would have survived. But they would have had a very bumpy ride. With WCW maybe making an eventual comeback and still being in business today. We'd still feel the loss to this very day.

 

[gleamx]

if vince had fell instead of owen, i think wwe product might not be as sour as it is today. logically i think that shane would be the one in charge while owen/rock/austin/triple h would have all been top contenders for the company. wwe would have been skyrocketed at least temporarily into the spotlight(sink or swim situation). triple h would not have transformed into the game, as owen(even in jean paul levesque's own words, was supposed to play the role/gimmick of the game). personally i would've loved to have seen a legit rock vs. owen match as i feel owen could've taken the rock to a new level and vice versa.

i do feel that the product today would be a lot more different today without vince, and sadly enough, i think that the company would be better for it. it would add a lot more spice to the product, triple h wouldn't be shoved down our throats and it wouldn't be in the same position it was when wcw was winning the war. if tna had a decent marketing scheme for the wrestlers, they would make a definite "impact" on the industry.