What If The Hitman & HBK Never Made It?

[BillAlfonso]

Let's say, for the sake of discussion, that when the original Hart Foundation and The Rockers broke up that Bret and Shawn weren't the two that broke out. What if Neidhart and Jannety went on to become the two top names of the "New Generation" Era, how would the landscape have changed. The way I see it, there would've been no Stone Cold Steve Austin as he wouldn't have had Bret to put him on the map or Shawn to put him over at WM 14, there wouldn't have been a The Rock as he wouldn't have had Bret to mentor him backstage to a certain degree and he wouldn't have had Austin to put him over as a heel, there likely wouldn't have been a HHH as he wouldn't have had HBK to look out for him after Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left and he wouldn't have had The Rock and SCSA to put him over. Well, it may be a bit much to say that these men wouldn't have been there but would they be as big of names as they became? To me, the only person that would've continued to be a name is Taker but would that have been for WCW as SCSA and The Rock saved the WWE.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

All I can say is that we would have not had had a rich a history as we did. Neidhart is less of a possibility but jannety could have replaced HBK if he got mega-over from their feud and shawn did say back in the rockers he did do most of the talking, people knew him better. In which case shawn would have certainly been picked up be WCW because he's too talented not to have been. Would have layed low up until hogan came in and then have got involved in the NWO somehow as a mid/major player. WWF would have collapsed because there would have been no genuine dislike between bret and whoever he was feuding so it wouldn't seem as real. WCW may have been the one who stayed on top right now from just one buy, who knows. They certainly would have gone under had austin not been thee, it was all about austin from 98/99 where they were regaining power. So no DX, unless HHH got together with the headbangers......HAHA. Who knows if WWE would be here and if we had all been saying that ted turner is a prick buying out wwf, I always loved that company. It really could have happened.

 

[kurt_angle_no1fan]

This doesnt even bear thinking about for the reasons you have said. Although I am pretty sure Austin and Rock would of somehow made themselves. They were definately talented enough. Sure, they wouldnt of come about the way that they did, but another way would of being possible. They had the charisma and talent to succeed anyway possible.

 

[Calderownz]

Interesting topic.

I think that Bret not making it would have effected Steve Austin, WWE Attitude Era, Owen Hart, Mr. Perfect and a few others that I'm not thinking of. HBK would have effected Triple H, The Undertaker, and some others as well.

Bret helped Austin get over, sadly allowed McMahon to become a character with the screwjob and also gave both Owen Hart and Mr. Perfect their best matches.

Shawn gave Taker his best matches, and also helped push Triple H to the brink with D-Generation X. Both men gave more then their share to the sport.

Mostly, and thankfully so, they effected each other. They are one of my favorite feuds in the sport, ever.

Neidhart would have done next to nothing if he was the man they pushed. Nothing against the man, but he doesn't have an appealing look, wasn't GREAT on the mic and was an overall bland personality.

Jennety would have had a better shot. He was the talker of the two in the beginning and he was very qualified in the ring. However, he's seemed to have somewhat of a destructive attitude. So, who knows with him.

Michaels and Hart may have gone to WCW/NWA and I think Hart would have had a better chance at making it. Simply because of his wrestling connections and the fact that Michaels was more of a highspot guy at the time and Hart was more of a traditional wrestler. However, both would have capped off at the high-mid card area.

 

[BillAlfonso]

This doesnt even bear thinking about for the reasons you have said. Although I am pretty sure Austin and Rock would of somehow made themselves. They were definately talented enough. Sure, they wouldnt of come about the way that they did, but another way would of being possible. They had the charisma and talent to succeed anyway possible.

Think about it like this, Austin initially gained interest due to the "Austin 3:16" speech when he won KOTR. He said so in his DVD that if it weren't for that promo, he wouldn't have been anything other than a "mechanic" used to get other guys over. Now, you know who was supposed to originally with that year's KOTR? HHH, now, what if Austin won that KOTR and he never had Bret to feud with immediately? The other reason he became a name is because of Bret, remember, his feud with "Mr. McMahon" came about due to his antics when he was taking on The New Hart Foundation so that's Austin possibly going to waste, no Mr. McMahon, and HHH waits another year for a KOTR that he may not get due to there being no WWE. On to The Rock, without Austin, he would've been a midcarder at best because the back and forth between he and Austin is what made him a name IMO. Could Taker have gotten them over? Sure but he'd have likely been the face of the company and we've seen how they handle the person that has that role outside of the Attitude Era as evidence with Hogan in the '80s and Cena now.