What IF?

[dman1373]

I just wanted to know what you guys think would have happend if Shawn Michaels would have never broke his back.
Would he have had more title runs?
would stone cold have won at wrestlemania?
would Triple H be as big as he is?

 

[Chill]

It's difficult to say as all "What If" threads usually are but had Shawn not left due to his broken back then, yeah, it's possible he would have had more title runs. However, Austin I think was always going to be the star of the Attitude Era and he drew more as champion than Shawn Michaels....so bearing that in mind, perhaps Shawn wouldn't have had as many runs with the belt as some of us may have liked (that's certainly not to say they wouldn't have put the belt on him, it's just with mega stars like The Rock and Austin breaking out, who drew huge numbers, it was obvious who the WWE would have wanted to carry their main championship). Shawn Michaels would have still remained a key player in the WWE but he may have been eclipsed somewhat by the star power brought by The Rock and Austin and whatnot...although a Rock/Michaels feud would have been amazing in my opinion. Ultimately, of course we will never know...

 

[Age of Orton]

Shawn in some ways was a transitional champion in late 97 early 98, simply because Bret was that of the old school if you like days (aka longish title runs) Shawn was that of the generation between the old school and attitude what was called the New generation, but when HBK held the belt in late 97 he was simply doing so to drop it to Austin, as the poster above stated Austin was the star of the attitude era.

Had HBK not of "lost his smile" back in early 1997, nor had he took hissy fits through out 97 and broke his back, I generally think Vince would of had HBK the poster boy, followed by Austin/HHH/Rock who would of gotten his time to shine in 99 rather then 98.

HBK these days is good, but him not wanting a title belt sucks, as he has that feel that rub he should make a title look 100x better then the average wrestler.

 

[The Gribbler]

I think that if Shawn had not have broken his back and took time off that me may be dead right now. I know thats a bold statement but I have read his book as well as others who mention his backstage habits.

He used to push himself to the limit, he would take high doses of painkillers and had a very poor lifestyle. If he had not broken his back, found religion (for what its worth it gave him a reason to reform his life) and found himself, he may have wound up another under 40 wrestling statistic.