What If... V2.0

[Hazardous]

Inspired by CSR's "What If" this week, I thought I would do my own, as it was something I had thought about for years. Please give your thoughts/feelings on it after as well.


What if the Outsiders never went to WcW?

What would have become of WcW, and the wrestling industry had Scott Hall and Kevin Nash never gone back to WcW. Without it, there would not have been an nWo. Without the nWo, there was no Hogan heel turn. Would Hogan have stayed on the path he was on at that point? Where people were starting to not care about him anymore? No nWo would have also had an effect on the WWF as well, because there wouldn't have been a spike in the ratings for WcW, which means the WWF wouldn't have had to step their game up and evolve into more edgy, attitude themed programing. No Monday night wars, because at that point WcW wasn't as much of a threat to WWF. Would we have seen the creation of some of our most beloved characters? such as DX, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Not to mention, all the WcW talent who steped their game up as well and evolved with the times.

Where would the "Sports Entertainment" industry be today, had the Outsiders not gone back to WcW, and stayed in WWF?

 

[FabulousFreeByrd]

I'm sure most of things would have remained the same... I think both Hogan and bischoff realized that Hogan had run it's course as a face. He had spent the majority of his career as a face and the fans stopped caring about him. Turning him heel was the only way to keep him relevant.

As far as the rock and stone cold goes... You couldn't keep someone as charismatic like the Rock down for long. However with Stone Cold, without the nWo there was no need for the attitude era.. but then again, maybe it would have gone that route with regardless because that's what was cool at the time, ECW probably would have been the catalyst for the attitude era in the event NWO was never formed.

 

[shogunsrampage]

I'm sure most of things would have remained the same... I think both Hogan and bischoff realized that Hogan had run it's course as a face. He had spent the majority of his career as a face and the fans stopped caring about him. Turning him heel was the only way to keep him relevant.

As far as the rock and stone cold goes... You couldn't keep someone as charismatic like the Rock down for long. However with Stone Cold, without the nWo there was no need for the attitude era.. but then again, maybe it would have gone that route with regardless because that's what was cool at the time, ECW probably would have been the catalyst for the attitude era in the event NWO was never formed.

actually, as bishoff has said many times.....it was a spur of the moment idea...it wasnt like it was something being tossed around for awhile...they were at a meeting on what could they do to get ahead of the wwf/e and the idea came up and everyone was like whatttttttt..... hogan as a heel... and they ran with it. if nash n hall stayed , wcw would of stayed at #2, hall would of had a wwf title run(this was a major reason why he left, he wanted to run with the ball and vince only saw him as a upper mid card guy)

 

[Hazardous]

As far as the rock and stone cold goes... You couldn't keep someone as charismatic like the Rock down for long. However with Stone Cold, without the nWo there was no need for the attitude era.. but then again, maybe it would have gone that route with regardless because that's what was cool at the time, ECW probably would have been the catalyst for the attitude era in the event NWO was never formed.

I agree, except that with the bringing in more edgy programing, they gave the stars more creative freedom, which is where Rock's character worked great. Without that creative say (he wrote the majority of his promo's) would we have seen the rise of The Rock, or Y2J? Or would they have been watered down ones?

Also without that more attitude driven push they were on, would we have had some of the more edgy, hardcore matches that we had? Would guys like Undertaker be in the shape they are now physically?

Vince didn't see ECW as a threat. In fact they worked together a few times. The game evolved due to the direct competition between WWF and WcW.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I'm sure most of things would have remained the same... I think both Hogan and bischoff realized that Hogan had run it's course as a face. He had spent the majority of his career as a face and the fans stopped caring about him. Turning him heel was the only way to keep him relevant.

As far as the rock and stone cold goes... You couldn't keep someone as charismatic like the Rock down for long. However with Stone Cold, without the nWo there was no need for the attitude era.. but then again, maybe it would have gone that route with regardless because that's what was cool at the time, ECW probably would have been the catalyst for the attitude era in the event NWO was never formed.

uh yeah typical rock fan who has his head up in his ass and refuses to see daylight.rock was charismatic and stone cold wasnt??? thats bullshit dude.also would like to point out that the era before attitude was the one heavily reliant on wrestling and austin before his neck injury was capable of having a five star match with anyone on the roster.rock was never capable of that.so if you ask me of the two stone cold had a better chance of surviving

also i guess you guys dont understand that stone cold got popular coz he was a rebel.sure the cursing and the beer drinking did add to his persona but im sure he could have played a rebel without them as well.

also saying that i think nwo would have been formed.maybe it would not have been as big but i think bischoff would have gone with hogan savage & probably one of flair or sting.but the thing that drew crowds to this angle was that they thought wwf was invading wcw.the angle would have probably been a lot different with that factor removed

 

[FabulousFreeByrd]

i do believe that's the problem with today's program, it seems too scripted, whilst back then it was mostly improv. I always wanted to see Scott Hall win the world title, i just never felt he was good on the mic. Also when Bischoff had turner has his backer, they were getting max deals... You'd be a dumbass to pass up the money a lot of those wCw guys were getting.

Bischoff is always really in tune to what the teenagers on up want to see. As he always said "controversy creates cash", which is true, so when NWO popped up, Vince gave the top talent more freedom. Now in the Cena era, it's pretty predictable.. Cena comes out at the beginning of the show to confront the heel, he has an interview with josh matthews in the back (mid show) then he get's the out-of-no where attitude adjustment (for the upset). To me it's just boring and it doesn't really help the newer talent blossom.

 

[Hazardous]

i do believe that's the problem with today's program, it seems too scripted, whilst back then it was mostly improv. I always wanted to see Scott Hall win the world title, i just never felt he was good on the mic. Also when Bischoff had turner has his backer, they were getting max deals... You'd be a dumbass to pass up the money a lot of those wCw guys were getting.

Bischoff is always really in tune to what the teenagers on up want to see. As he always said "controversy creates cash", which is true, so when NWO popped up, Vince gave the top talent more freedom. Now in the Cena era, it's pretty predictable.. Cena comes out at the beginning of the show to confront the heel, he has an interview with josh matthews in the back (mid show) then he get's the out-of-no where attitude adjustment (for the upset). To me it's just boring and it doesn't really help the newer talent blossom.

And that had what to do with the "What If" theory exactly? Stay on topic please and thank you. This is not a PG bashing thread, and I will disprove everything you say if it turns into that.

You can't say that they still would have done the NWO without them going there, because you don't know that. They were an "invading" force that people hated, which gave the perfect moment for a Hogan Heel turn. Without that "Hogan turned his back on WCW" moment, would his turn have worked? Look how many other Heel or Face turns didn't work because the crowd didn't buy it. This one we could buy, which is why it worked. Without Hall and Nash I don;t think it would have.

 

[The_Phenomenal_Phenom]

I think the WWE would still have the attitude era because they seem to evolve as time goes on. The kids who were cheering for Hogan were now teenagers and the sex and violent storylines would appeal to them rather than the kid friendly programming they were used to.

If Nash and Hall didn't leave the WWE I don't think DX would have been born. They would probably carry on with the Kliq with HBK, HHH, Nash, Hall and The 1-2-3 Kid using their booking power.

 

[vampirek]

The Attitude Era would have come about regardless of what WCW did. WCW simply made into a war and the WWF went over the top with things. However the Era would still remain but with less risks. The WWF had already changed and had the material to create the Attitude Era. When in the past they had superhero type characters in Hogan, Warrior etc wrestlers started to become real. You had Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels etc you had a bad guy Razor Ramon as a face and so on. Austin would have happened because of this, he fitted right in.
Even the name of the shows reflected this, the WWF use to have its Saturday Night Main Event, wrestling this and that and so on. Then they had Raw, a totally different approach years before the Attitude Era and again showing the WWE is a changing product.

 

[BK Styles]

uh yeah typical rock fan who has his head up in his ass and refuses to see daylight.rock was charismatic and stone cold wasnt??? thats bullshit dude.also would like to point out that the era before attitude was the one heavily reliant on wrestling and austin before his neck injury was capable of having a five star match with anyone on the roster.rock was never capable of that.so if you ask me of the two stone cold had a better chance of surviving

also i guess you guys dont understand that stone cold got popular coz he was a rebel.sure the cursing and the beer drinking did add to his persona but im sure he could have played a rebel without them as well.

also saying that i think nwo would have been formed.maybe it would not have been as big but i think bischoff would have gone with hogan savage & probably one of flair or sting.but the thing that drew crowds to this angle was that they thought wwf was invading wcw.the angle would have probably been a lot different with that factor removed

Lol. Fail. To modify your quote; typical austin fan. No, but seriously, shut up; he didn't say Austin wasn't charismatic. He's saying that he was spawned from the Attitude era. Rock sort of was, but his character was more developed from his promo running ability. Austin's character, an antihero, was the centrepeice of the attitude era, and without the attitude era, Austin may have gone down a different route and not become the texas rattlesnake. Hell, we'll never know. But don't bash the guy just because you didn't read his post properly.

Anyway, to the topic.
If they didn't jump ship, there are a ton of things that could of happened as a result. People might not be around today, or at least in the guise as they are now. Take Triple H as an example. Hall and Nash didn't so muhc jump ship, but WWF let their contracts run because of the power they were getting backstage with The Kliq, leading to the MSG incident, where after their matches they came out, broke kayfabe, and hugged in the ring despite how they were meant to hate eachotherAfter this, the Outsiders debuted in WCW, and it could be argued that DX formed as a result of this. HHH was on a push before the MSG incident but got punished for it (he was the only one who they could punish; HBK was too big a star at the time) and lost all momentum after it, however he and HBK persuaded the then-WWF to pair them as DX, following the Outsiders debut in WCW. If the Outsiders never left, the MSG incident wouldn't have happened. NWO wouldn't have formed in WCW, and there wouldn't have been a real need for DX. And we all know how HHH progressed, from DX co-founder, to DX leader, to the Game. If NWO and DX weren't around, could HHH have broken out as a different character from his 'Connecticut Blueblood?' Would we have 'The Game' Triple H today if it wasn't for Hall and Nash's jump??? Also, bear in mind, Sheamus was/is HHH's workout buddy. Would we have had Sheamus with us today as a 2 time WWE champ if it weren't for this?

Other things to bear in mind. Would WCW have spoiled Mankind winning the title on Raw, causing people to jump over and watch, losing themselves ratings? Would Jericho (arguably the best WWE wrestler today), Benoit, Guererro, Saturn, Malenko etc have jumped ship? Would we have seen Steiner, Mysterio and Goldberg in a WWE ring? Would we have got the Invasion? These are just a few other things.

We owe so much to The Outsiders for juimping ship, as weird as that sounds. This is just one example.

 

[CyDeez]

This is a hard one to really state a true scenario of how things would have turned out.

But an opinion is what you are looking for, so I will tell you what I think, to a certain extent.

I don't think WCW would have closed the gap between them and WWF/E, without The NWO. So it is hard to say if they would have come up with a storyline as compelling as The NWO. The Hogan Heel turn might still have happened. But, who knows if it would have come as such a shock if done in a different manner than The Leg Drop and then what happened after.

It is safe to say things within WWF/E would have been a lot different. Maybe a group would have been formed involving HBK, HHH, Hall, Nash and Waltman. Who knows.

I think Austin and The Rock were destined for the things that they both accomplished. But maybe it would have taken a little longer, or maybe it wouldn't have.

Trips was supposed to win that 96 KOTR and didn't because he was disciplined for The Curtain Call/Madison Square Garden moment. If they hadn't ever left, that would not have happened and Trips would have probably won KOTR. That takes away that Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass promo/moment.

Hall & Nash staying in WWF/E would have caused some sort of ripple effect. I think the business would definitely have been different. Who knows if we would have had The Attitude Era without the competition of WCW.