I saw someone do one of these "What if" questions a couple of days ago, about what if Vince had died instead of Owen Hart. I found it extremely interesting, and a lot of creative ideas came up. So I thought I'd come up with one of my own.
It's been rumored that when Eric Bischoff was planning the NWO, he had a certain idea in mind. Sure, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were huge in the concept of the NWO. But there was another name that was being tossed around. A name that never made the jump, out of sheer loyalty to Vince McMahon. That name, from what I understand was good ol' HBK himself. From what I understand, he was under contract, and I'm not sure for how long Shawn was under contract. Apparently, during WCW's big run, when they were also courting Bret Hart, Shawn told Vince multiple times that he the only person he felt should be paid more than him was Taker. My question is, what if, either during the invasion or even a little bit later, Shawn made the jump to WCW?
Feel free to take this in any direction you'd like, either saying how Shawn would do in WCW (Would he be buried by the bigger names? Would he have outperformed everyone and finally given WCW that main event name that could perform? What would happen to Sting? Hogan? Savage? Luger?), what would have happened to the WWE (Would it have died? Would Attitude have been born? How about DX?)
I personally feel three things:
1. Attitude would never have been born. I know, Vince oversaw it, but I don't think people give Shawn enough credit for the role he played in bringing "Attitude" to the WWE. Triple H didn't have nearly enough clout to bring the idea up to Vince himself, and neither did Steve Austin. I feel like only two people could have swayed Vince to make Attitude as edgy as it was. One of them is Taker, and I'm not sure how much into the concept of Attitude he was. The other, of course, was Shawn. Wasn't it Shawn that, with Triple H, and maybe Diesel and Razor when they were there, told Vinny Mac that this was what the WWE needed against WCW? I may be wrong, but I see Shawn as pivotal to the development of Attitude.
2. No Shawn= No Montreal Screwjob. Let's face it, Bret's only beef was that he wasn't going to lose the belt to Shawn in Canada. I'd bet money if he were to drop the strap to Austin or Taker, there wouldn't have been an issue. And, well, with no Montreal Screwjob, no "Mr. McMahon". No Mr. McMahon means no one to fight Austin. Goodbye, Austin V.S. Vince. Hello...... What? Months of Taker and Kane? The N.O.D and Ahmed Johnson?
3. Shawn probably would have run into politics. What was once the best talent in WWF is relegated to the US Title. WCW runs the course that it did. A wrestling course with extreme political infighting, instability... But it's the only show around. For all we know, we could have had years of Flair V.S. Hogan.....![Doh :doh: :doh:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/doh.gif)
Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe his talent would be enough to get him over. Maybe he could have exemplary main event matches. Can you imagine HBK V.S. Sting? How about Flair (not 2008 Flair, more 1997 Flair. Which is still extremely damn good.) versus Shawn? Hell, even matches against Goldberg, Jericho.
I leave it up to y'all to decide what would happen.
It's been rumored that when Eric Bischoff was planning the NWO, he had a certain idea in mind. Sure, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were huge in the concept of the NWO. But there was another name that was being tossed around. A name that never made the jump, out of sheer loyalty to Vince McMahon. That name, from what I understand was good ol' HBK himself. From what I understand, he was under contract, and I'm not sure for how long Shawn was under contract. Apparently, during WCW's big run, when they were also courting Bret Hart, Shawn told Vince multiple times that he the only person he felt should be paid more than him was Taker. My question is, what if, either during the invasion or even a little bit later, Shawn made the jump to WCW?
Feel free to take this in any direction you'd like, either saying how Shawn would do in WCW (Would he be buried by the bigger names? Would he have outperformed everyone and finally given WCW that main event name that could perform? What would happen to Sting? Hogan? Savage? Luger?), what would have happened to the WWE (Would it have died? Would Attitude have been born? How about DX?)
I personally feel three things:
1. Attitude would never have been born. I know, Vince oversaw it, but I don't think people give Shawn enough credit for the role he played in bringing "Attitude" to the WWE. Triple H didn't have nearly enough clout to bring the idea up to Vince himself, and neither did Steve Austin. I feel like only two people could have swayed Vince to make Attitude as edgy as it was. One of them is Taker, and I'm not sure how much into the concept of Attitude he was. The other, of course, was Shawn. Wasn't it Shawn that, with Triple H, and maybe Diesel and Razor when they were there, told Vinny Mac that this was what the WWE needed against WCW? I may be wrong, but I see Shawn as pivotal to the development of Attitude.
2. No Shawn= No Montreal Screwjob. Let's face it, Bret's only beef was that he wasn't going to lose the belt to Shawn in Canada. I'd bet money if he were to drop the strap to Austin or Taker, there wouldn't have been an issue. And, well, with no Montreal Screwjob, no "Mr. McMahon". No Mr. McMahon means no one to fight Austin. Goodbye, Austin V.S. Vince. Hello...... What? Months of Taker and Kane? The N.O.D and Ahmed Johnson?
3. Shawn probably would have run into politics. What was once the best talent in WWF is relegated to the US Title. WCW runs the course that it did. A wrestling course with extreme political infighting, instability... But it's the only show around. For all we know, we could have had years of Flair V.S. Hogan.....
![Doh :doh: :doh:](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/doh.gif)
Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe his talent would be enough to get him over. Maybe he could have exemplary main event matches. Can you imagine HBK V.S. Sting? How about Flair (not 2008 Flair, more 1997 Flair. Which is still extremely damn good.) versus Shawn? Hell, even matches against Goldberg, Jericho.
I leave it up to y'all to decide what would happen.