When Should They Have Been Champion?

[rokuma]

Frequently, I see threads on here such as "Should so and so have been World champion?" and friendly debates ensue with some of the more common picks: Million Dollar Man, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, The British Bulldog, Owen Hart, Roddy Piper, Hall of Famer Koko B. Freaking Ware, etc.

(Just kidding...but seriously, how in the world is he a Hall of Famer?!)

Not only is my question who should've been world champion, but WHEN would you have made them champion?

I'll mention several:

- Rick Rude: Summerslam 1990. He should've defeated the Ultimate Warrior and started a brief reign on top for the title. I would've much rather have seen Rude/Hogan at Wrestlemania 7 than Hogan/Slaughter (who eventually won the title from Warrior). That was one of the slowest main events in Wrestlemania history. Rude/Hogan would've been fabulous.

- Million Dollar Man: Easy...Wrestlemania IV. He already bought the WWF title creating the tournament....he should've went over a fatigued Macho Man and captured the WWF Title. You could've even had Hogan accidentally costing Savage the title. And to top it off, Savage/Dibiase could've had a TREMENDOUS rematch at Summerslam to give Savage a World title run and set up Hogan/Savage at Wrestlemania V. Dibiase absolutely deserved that title run. He was hot at that point.

- Mr. Perfect: This one will undoubtedly be controversial. I contended several months back that the biggest missed opportunity in WWF history was a feud between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect in 1996. HBK was at his PEAK and Henning, when he returned in WCW, was still near his peak....think of the high quality of matches they could've had? If you remember, Perfect helped setup HBK getting laid out by Diesel on Raw (after HBK defeated Jerry Lawler) for the Good Friends, Better Enemies In Your House. This could've snowballed into a rivalry with Perfect/HBK squaring off at Summerslam 96 or my preference, Survivor Series 96 instead of HBK/Sid (one of HBK's worst matches in 1996 in my opinion) with the rematch in 1997 at the Royal Rumble. Would you have rather had HBK/Perfect twice or HBK/Sid? I thought so...besides the WWF at the time was lacking stars. If Perfect was interested in wrestling, what sense does it make to keep him out? Horrible missed opportunity.

- Scott Hall: In my opinion, he should've been WCW Champion in 1999. After he screwed Goldberg and had the Ladder Match against him, they should've pushed him toward a small World Title reign. Truly a legend in this business, but plagued by demons, at that point he was probably okay for a World title reign. Maybe the biggest star that never won the big one (although you could make an argument for Roddy Piper).

Who and when would yours be?

 

[TheHorndogSays]

Million Dollar Man: Easy...Wrestlemania IV. He already bought the WWF title creating the tournament....he should've went over a fatigued Macho Man and captured the WWF Title. You could've even had Hogan accidentally costing Savage the title. And to top it off, Savage/Dibiase could've had a TREMENDOUS rematch at Summerslam to give Savage a World title run and set up Hogan/Savage at Wrestlemania V. Dibiase absolutely deserved that title run. He was hot at that point.

I'll Million Dollar Man but say it should have happened at Summerslam. After WM4, he complains on how Hogan cost him the title at WM so he gets a rematch which he wins then you have Million Dollar Man vs Hogan at WM5 for the title.

 

[theBec2101]

Razor Ramon-anytime after the ladder match with HBK be would of been good time.

Bulldog-Anytime after summer slam 92 and before he left to go to WCW. Not so much when he came back. Also I think he would of been if he hadent got popped for usage.

Jake Roberts- beat the warrior and move on to bigger and better things

Bam Bam-after surivior series when he came close to beating team Andre

Piper-after wrestlemania 3. would of been agreat heel win.

Mr Perfect-when is not the time to give someone like this guy the belt. after his match with Bret, Piper, Hogan. Why not?

 

[Wolf Pac]

Piper - Easily Starrcade 1996. They should have just put the WCW World Title on the line in the Hogan/Piper match and then Piper could have just lost it back at Superbrawl VII.

Hennig & Hall - I'm thinking 99 or 2000. They were just playing hot potato with the WCW Championship at the time and they were losing the war, so whether they thought Perfect & Hall as WCW Champion's would've helped them or harmed them, I don't think either option would've mattered at the time since they were losing no matter what. For Hall, I also have another timeline where he could've won the belt and that was at Uncensored 98. Nash could've helped him win the belt from Sting and that could've lead to Hogan kicking Hall out of the nWo, wanting the belt for himself, and Nash would've left the group, sticking up for Hall then on the Nitro after Spring Stampede, Hall loses the belt to Hogan, nWo Wolfpac is formed a week later before Hall turns on Nash at Slamboree and rejoins nWo Hollywood again.

Bulldog - 95 or 96. Pretty much the same reason as Perfect except the WWF weren't playing hot potato with the title but I'm sure they could've fit a reign in somewhere for Davey Boy.

Owen - Same as Bulldog although I've always thought about him maybe winning the 95 Royal Rumble match then winning it from Bret in a WM rematch at Wrestlemania 11 since both Hart's weren't in big matches at the PPV and I don't think Diesel vs. HBK needed the belt on the line for their match to happen when they just split up, so they could've just played their feud off their split alone.

Roberts - In the WWF or WCW, no clue, but I could see him easily winning the ECW World Title. They could've just brought him in to have a teacher/student feud with Raven over the ECW belt and he wins the belt from Raven during the feud before he loses it back to him at the end.

Bam Bam - Doesn't the ECW World Title count cause he held that? If not, I'd say the same as Bulldog or Perfect.

Dibiase - 92 or 93. I could easily see him holding the WWF Championship here than in 88. It's just that around those times, they had 1 year reigns and Savage was so over than Dibiase, he deserved his 1 year reign with the belt but by 92/93, the belt was getting passed around a lot more, there were no more 1 year reigns and Savage & Hogan were barely there anymore, so pretty much anyone at the time could've gotten it. A Bret-Dibiase feud over the belt would've actually been interesting to see.

Rude - Sometime in 92/93. He did win the NWA World Title but then that whole controversy happened which lead to Rude holding the WCW International World Title and at some point, before he got injured & was forced to retire in 94, he could've won the proper WCW World Title. Actually maybe he could've been the one to take the belt from Ron Simmons but then again if he had, he would've had to drop the belt since he got injured.

 

[EastCoastFan]

As some of you may know, Ted DiBiase was originally booked to win the tournament at WrestleMania 4. In the original bracketing, he would have faced and defeated Hulk Hogan in the main event. Savage was going to face and defeat the Honky Tonk Man and get another reign as I-C champ, but HTM refused to drop the title to him (he was in talks to go to WCW, and felt having the title gave him an advantage in those talks). So, to keep Savage happy, they gave him the WWF title.

I'm not sure about Rick Rude. At SummerSlam 90, they were pushing the Ultimate Warrior hard to be the new Hulk Hogan. Rude was not going to get the title that night but if he had, maybe he wouldn't have left a few months later.

Curt Hennig was a great wrestler, but he had back injuries that kept him out of action for a few stretches. Those injuries may have been the reason he never got to be WWF Champion.

I would have liked for Roddy Piper to get a reign as WWF Champion in the mid 80's. I would have had him beat Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event, then they have a return match at WrestleMania 2.

 

[The Brain]

Ted Dibiase: Never

Rick Rude: Never

Mr. Perfect: Never

Jake Roberts: Never

Roddy Piper: Never

Razor Ramon: Never

British Bulldog: Never

Owen Hart: Never

I don’t know why you guys want to go back in time and hot potato the title around so much. Hasn’t it been a very common complaint over the past few years that the title has changed too often? Isn’t there a feeling that the title has lost a lot of its prestige? Don’t you think CM Punk’s nine month title reign is a refreshing throwback to the good old days? If all these guys who should have supposedly been champion actually won the title there would be no prestige and good old days to return to. There would be no stand out superstars. There would be no legends. Everyone would be the same. If Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, and Rick Rude all got title reigns in the 80s there would be no legend of Hulkamania. If Razor Ramon, Davey Boy Smith, and Owen Hart all got title reigns in the 90s Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels would just be lost in the shuffle of champions. Everyone listed above had successful careers without being WWF champion. Most of them had good IC title runs, which was quite an accomplishment at the time. There is no need to short change legends like Hogan, Savage, Hart, and Michaels to accommodate those who enjoyed their share of success anyway.

 

[rokuma]

Ted Dibiase: Never

Rick Rude: Never

Mr. Perfect: Never

Jake Roberts: Never

Roddy Piper: Never

Razor Ramon: Never

British Bulldog: Never

Owen Hart: Never

I don’t know why you guys want to go back in time and hot potato the title around so much. Hasn’t it been a very common complaint over the past few years that the title has changed too often? Isn’t there a feeling that the title has lost a lot of its prestige? Don’t you think CM Punk’s nine month title reign is a refreshing throwback to the good old days? If all these guys who should have supposedly been champion actually won the title there would be no prestige and good old days to return to. There would be no stand out superstars. There would be no legends. Everyone would be the same. If Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, and Rick Rude all got title reigns in the 80s there would be no legend of Hulkamania. If Razor Ramon, Davey Boy Smith, and Owen Hart all got title reigns in the 90s Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels would just be lost in the shuffle of champions. Everyone listed above had successful careers without being WWF champion. Most of them had good IC title runs, which was quite an accomplishment at the time. There is no need to short change legends like Hogan, Savage, Hart, and Michaels to accommodate those who enjoyed their share of success anyway.

I disagree with you. Nobody said anything about the WWF title losing prestige. You're telling me that instead of Hogan holding the title from 1984 to 1988, that it would've been a BAD THING for Dibiase to interrupt it and win the title at WM 4? Or The Ultimate Warrior deserved to be WWF champion for almost a year when he could barely grasp the basics of wrestling and was known to be difficult to work with? Or that Sgt. Slaughter deserved the title over someone like Rude (leaving WWF in 1991 I believe), Dibiase, Perfect (still active/IC Champion), or even Savage at that point, just to feed Slaughter to Hogan at WM 7 (by the way, a 3 month reign)? Or Sid's reign from November 96 to January 97 couldn't have been Perfect/Owen/Bulldog instead? These decisions are questionable at best...that's why fans like to reminisce and play devil's advocate. It's part of what makes wrestling or sports in general fun. To look back and think about what might have been.

 

[Mr-excitement]

Ted Dibiase: Never

Rick Rude: Never

Mr. Perfect: Never

Jake Roberts: Never

Roddy Piper: Never

Razor Ramon: Never

British Bulldog: Never

Owen Hart: Never

I don’t know why you guys want to go back in time and hot potato the title around so much. Hasn’t it been a very common complaint over the past few years that the title has changed too often? Isn’t there a feeling that the title has lost a lot of its prestige? Don’t you think CM Punk’s nine month title reign is a refreshing throwback to the good old days? If all these guys who should have supposedly been champion actually won the title there would be no prestige and good old days to return to. There would be no stand out superstars. There would be no legends. Everyone would be the same. If Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, and Rick Rude all got title reigns in the 80s there would be no legend of Hulkamania. If Razor Ramon, Davey Boy Smith, and Owen Hart all got title reigns in the 90s Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels would just be lost in the shuffle of champions. Everyone listed above had successful careers without being WWF champion. Most of them had good IC title runs, which was quite an accomplishment at the time. There is no need to short change legends like Hogan, Savage, Hart, and Michaels to accommodate those who enjoyed their share of success anyway.

No wonder they call you the Brain, you're the only one who makes any sense. The title held prestige when it didn't change like a pair of socks that the nine to five humanoids are supposed to change everyday.

Instead, now all you need are a pair of trunks and they slap the belt around your waste. Just because guys could do a few moves doesn't mean they should have been champs.

The belts mean NOTHING now because it changes hands too often.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Henning had drug problems and chronic back issues, he was never a legit World Champ choice post 1990 (he IS a former World Champ though, back in 1987)

Rude was very over as a heel 88-90 in WWE. Was he more over than Ted DiBiase, was his gimick better ? Debatable, there are stories that Rude could be hard to work with, that he didnt get along with Hogan in WWE because he thought he deserved a title run and didnt get it, that he was upset that WCW went to Flair after Vader instead of him. In any event, I think 88-90 DiBiase was the top heel, he would have been my choice in WWE as champion. For Rude, honestly, his best shot was 1994 in WCW, but Hogan's signing and his back injury ruined that.

Someone said Piper should have gotten the title after WM 3 and commented he would have been a great heel champ. One problem, Piper was a FAN FAV by WM 3 and didnt want to work a full time schedule, ala his "Retirement Match" at WM 3. Piper if I remember didnt climb back into the ring until 1991 when Flair arrived, putting him over at House Shows to build his winning streak heading into the 92 Rumble, after that he wrestled only sparaingly in both WWE & WCW, his choice.

Bulldog was never World Champ material. He was a great tag team guy but as singles wrestler was never above Mid Card status with fans. Looking at WWE in 1992, which was undoubtedly Bulldog's best year, even after Hogan left you could argue Savage, Flair, Hart, DiBiase and Ultimate Warrior al had more cred with fans than Bulldog. He was a team player who was rewarded with a nice fued and win at SummerSlam, then prompltly dropped back where he belonged, to the middle of the card. WWE wisely saw more potential in HBK who was much more entertaining than Bulldog ever was.

Big Boss Man: Never - he was a solid in ring performer for his size but lacked the credibility to be World Champ. To be a believable World Champ you either have to be an extremely skilled and resourcefull rulebreaker, a guy with the skill set to wrestle clean but the willingness to cheat (HBK, HHH, Flair, CM Punk, Edge), a dominating force, a guy almost unbeatable, typically a fan fav, who you watch to see just how some evil heel will cheat past him for the gold (Hogan, Cena, Austin, Goldberg), or the absolute most talented guy on the program, way over with fans, typically a hero, with a strong reputation for being both skilled and brave, a guy who backs down from no one (Brett Hart, Rock) but not necessarily an unbeatable force. Boss Man never dislayed any of that. Maybe it was his hokey gimmick, but the gimmick stuck with him for many years after his initial WWE push.

Bam Bam Bigelow: When was the biggest guy on the card - In WWE he was a character yes, but was really as big, really as credibile as Rude or DiBiase - In WCW Vader was by far a better Monster Character, more skilled in the ring as well, and Sting & Flair were way more popular with the fans. Certainly he wouldnt have been anything more than a short term interim champ. Now maybe with the belt he would have grown in the eyes of fans, but Bigelow to me was always a McMahon style Cartoon Character like Boss Man, not a guy who was a legit World Champion.

 

[The Brain]

I disagree with you. Nobody said anything about the WWF title losing prestige. You're telling me that instead of Hogan holding the title from 1984 to 1988, that it would've been a BAD THING for Dibiase to interrupt it and win the title at WM 4?

Hogan had already lost the title by WM4 so Dibiase wouldn't have interrupted that but I still don't see Dibiase as champion. A heel was not going to walk out of mania as champion in 1988. I've heard the rumors about Dibiase being the original winner of the tournament and I don't believe them. Besides, Savage winning the title at WM4 was the perfect set up for Hogan vs. Savage at WM5.

Or The Ultimate Warrior deserved to be WWF champion for almost a year when he could barely grasp the basics of wrestling and was known to be difficult to work with?

Just curious, were you watching in 1990? If you were then you would know that Warrior was an obvious choice for the champion. His popularity actually rivaled Hogan's. Hogan was cutting back on his wrestling schedule to go do movies and Vince needed a replacement. Warrior was the logical choice. The fans loved him. He had the look of a champion. He looked great with the belt. After years of Hulkamania do you think Vince wanted someone like Dibiase or Rude as his champion? Not a chance.

Or that Sgt. Slaughter deserved the title over someone like Rude (leaving WWF in 1991 I believe), Dibiase, Perfect (still active/IC Champion), or even Savage at that point, just to feed Slaughter to Hogan at WM 7 (by the way, a 3 month reign)?

It's not so much that Slaughter deserved the title over those guys (Rude was gone by then anyway) but he was the guy to go with because of the angle. Hogan vs. Dibiase or Perfect wouldn't have been much of a mania main event angle. With the US at war with Iraq Slaughter coming back and turning on the US was huge. Slaughter was very popular in the 80s and it was unthinkable that he would ever turn on the US. Not only did he turn on the US but he took the side of their opponent during the war. He had more heat than anyone ever had when he won the title and the American hero, Hulk Hogan challenging him for it at mania was the logical main event.

Or Sid's reign from November 96 to January 97 couldn't have been Perfect/Owen/Bulldog instead?

Owen and Davey just weren't world championship material. They were great mid carders and tag wrestlers. They did a fantastic job in their roles. They just wouldn't have been good world champions. Perfect was already gone by the time Sid got the title and he hadn't wrestled for WWF for three years at that point. I could see Vader instead of Sid but not Owen or Davey.

These decisions are questionable at best...that's why fans like to reminisce and play devil's advocate. It's part of what makes wrestling or sports in general fun. To look back and think about what might have been.

I agree, it is fun to look back and think what if. I understand that. I see why you want certain guys to have been champion but I don't think that means they should have been champion.

 

[HBsam31]

I mostly agree with Flairfan and The Brain here. The only one I could see is The Million Dollar man in that 88 to 90 slot. He was really over as a heel, more over than Rick Rude I think. The fact is though even if he won it he would have turned around and dropped it to Hogan anyway. I do find it strange that we all complain about the titles having no value, and then we want to go back in time and swap the title around back then to. Roode's title run and Punk's have been two of the most refreshing title runs in recent memory. These are the ways the titles gain prestige. There are a few exceptions maybe, but for the most part I am happy with how the titles were carried in the old days and going back to that would not be a bad thing at all.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I think a lot of the problems with these guys being champion is timing. Bulldog, Million Dollar Man, Roddy Piper, Mr Perfect and maybe Jake Roberts could have been champions.

The Million Dollar Man- I do think he was over enough to win the title. WM4-WM5 was on of the best storylines ever and there was no point to interupt Hogan/Savage. He played the part he needed to in the feud and he didnt need a title reign.

The British Bulldog- If things played out differently maybe he gets a title reign. No steriod scandal=Vince still loves the bigger guy=Bulldog may get Brets first run? Maybe. Potentially could have won it during his heel run in 1999 but wasnt happening with Triples Hs hot heel run, again bad timing.

Roddy Piper-This one is the most realistic. I could see him having a breif run winning the title before Wrestlemania and then losing it right back to Hogan and Wrestlemania. During this time, Vince always wanted the title on a face.

Mr Pefect-I think he could have had a breif run but I dont see where it would fit in to history.

Jake Roberts- He just never needed it. Maybe WCW when he got there, I dont know I didnt follow WCW too close.

Or that Sgt. Slaughter deserved the title over someone like Rude (leaving WWF in 1991 I believe),

Was Rude better then Slaughter in the ring? 100 percent. Was Rude capable of having a run from RR91-WM7? For sure. But McMahon knew what he was doing with the US/Iraq angle, Slaughter had tremendus heat. The angle worked perfectly.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Truth is, I don't actually think any of them should've been champion for the reasons Brain listed. None of them were top draw material, and if Million Dollar Man was originally slated to win at WM 4, I'm glad things went the way they did and Savage got the belt instead cause he just seemed more over. I was originally gonna post that in this thread but decided to play along for the sake of the thread and because fantasy bookings are always fun to do. It's easy to look back, pick out all the flaws and change history but at the time it was a much different feeling, they were done for a reason and nobody knew this & that person would end up being a failure. In my picks, I had everyone on the list booked to win the titles in the mid-90's or late 90's cause even in a fantasy booking, I wouldn't change what happened in the 80's and early 90's when Hulkamania, Savage, Warrior and all them were running wild. The World Titles were at their most prestigious then. By the mid-90's and late 90's, Savage, Warrior & Hulk's popularity weren't the same anymore and the championships were being passed around a lot more and there were no more 1 year reigns, so if the guys on the list were gonna ever win the World Title, it would've been easier for them to do it then. For half of the picks, I had them booked to win a World Title in WCW but when Hogan was hardly there anymore and they were losing the ratings, that way them being the top draw wouldn't have affected the product so much, and another half booked to win the World Title in the WWF also when they were losing the ratings and that way Bret & Shawn wouldn't be lost in the shuffle so much. And I had Jake Roberts picked to win the ECW Title since out of everyone on the list, he was the guy who couldn't cut it the most for a WWE or WCW Title reign.

 

[rokuma]

Hogan had already lost the title by WM4 so Dibiase wouldn't have interrupted that but I still don't see Dibiase as champion.

I know Hogan had lost the belt prior, but the entire tournament was built around Dibiase buying the belt from Andre and a controversial decision with the Hebner brothers. How does Dibiase NOT walk out of there as champion? Hogan/Andre ends in a DQ, I get that, but how does this feud not continue with Dibiase as champion? It was typical WWF feel-good booking at the time (much like today), but Dibiase deserved the title run at that point. It's logical...the feud is Dibiase/Hogan with Andre/Savage as support characters. Dibiase or Hogan should've won the tournament to feud over the title. Also, can you remember a single match with Hogan/Dibiase?

Just curious, were you watching in 1990? If you were then you would know that Warrior was an obvious choice for the champion. His popularity actually rivaled Hogan's. Hogan was cutting back on his wrestling schedule to go do movies and Vince needed a replacement. Warrior was the logical choice. The fans loved him. He had the look of a champion. He looked great with the belt. After years of Hulkamania do you think Vince wanted someone like Dibiase or Rude as his champion? Not a chance.

I was watching in 1990 and I remember Warrior's popularity and how it rivaled Hogan's, but that doesn't change his backstage rep or how awful he was in the ring or his mind-boggling blather with his promos. But Summerslam 1990 was roughly 4 or 5 months into his title reign...a lot of these issues HAD to be showing. Why not take a chance to build up a super heel (Rick Rude) who probably would've stayed if his career wasn't in neutral? Rude had the tools, he had Heenan (whom you should know was probably the most over heel in the WWF at the time) and have Warrior chase him to Royal Rumble 91 and eventually recapture the title, setting up Hogan-Warrior 2? How phenomenal would that have been? Again, Slaughter/Hogan is on my shortlist of worst Wrestlemania main events. After that, you potentially have feuds with Hogan/Rude (if their issues were resolved), Warrior/Rude again, possibly Savage/Rude (not sure why Savage "retired" at WM 7), or even revisiting Snake/Rude. Jake the Snake was one of the most over guys in the company in 90-91. In fact, he might've had the loudest pop at Royal Rumble 1990. I'm just saying you HAD to have seen the instability of the Ultimate Warrior ahead of time. Why not make a backup plan? A 4-5 month reign as champion wouldn't diminish the value of the belt. It's a pretty solid run.

By the way, I understand the Slaughter/Iraq heat at the time.

Owen and Davey just weren't world championship material. They were great mid carders and tag wrestlers. They did a fantastic job in their roles. They just wouldn't have been good world champions. Perfect was already gone by the time Sid got the title and he hadn't wrestled for WWF for three years at that point. I could see Vader instead of Sid but not Owen or Davey.

I understand what you're saying, but remember it in context: WWF in 1996 had no major heels (Vader possibly excluded and he'd already been fed to HBK), but apparently Vince wanted the title off of Shawn at Survivor Series (for whatever reason). Why not give it to a British Bulldog or Owen Hart (still consistent top guys even though HBK had beaten them) or even Mr. Perfect, who was looking to make a comeback at the time. The match at Survivor Series 96 with Sid was definitely the worst of 1996 for Shawn Michaels. I agree with Vader though. It's a shame he never won the title in 1996. He was over in January/February of that year, beating up Monsoon, the suspension, breaking Yokozuna's leg eventually, etc. A tragedy.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Hogan had already lost the title by WM4 so Dibiase wouldn't have interrupted that but I still don't see Dibiase as champion.

I know Hogan had lost the belt prior, but the entire tournament was built around Dibiase buying the belt from Andre and a controversial decision with the Hebner brothers. How does Dibiase NOT walk out of there as champion? Hogan/Andre ends in a DQ, I get that, but how does this feud not continue with Dibiase as champion? It was typical WWF feel-good booking at the time (much like today), but Dibiase deserved the title run at that point. It's logical...the feud is Dibiase/Hogan with Andre/Savage as support characters. Dibiase or Hogan should've won the tournament to feud over the title. Also, can you remember a single match with Hogan/Dibiase?

No I dont remember a single match with Hogan/Dibiase but I do like Savage being the champion face of this angle. I would have rather seen Savage/Dibiase 2 then Hogan/Dibiase. I dont like the idea of Savage taking the back seat to Hogan. Why didnt Dibiase not walk out of WM4 Champion? You said it best with feel good booking. Could you imagine the fans being sent home from WM unhappy?....espeically in the 80s.

From WM4 it builds the mega powers angle which lasted a year. I do get where your coming from. I dont disagree that he deserves the title, I just dont see how it would fit in. Wouldnt you rather see Dibiase in (maybe) the best angle ever then have a brief title run?

 

[jacdnwarrior]

I like these guys and find it very interesting to consider them as champions.

Rude - Solid performer, hilarious on the mike and he knew how to get the audience riled up. There is no way that he could have been champ during Hogan's time. I think a back and forth with Warrior where he steals the championship from him as he did with the IC title, could have worked.

Perfect - Too unreliable. Had a bad back and he used drugs. How can he be a champ for any promotion ? If we were to go for WWF championship, who does he take it from ? He could take it from Flair, then lose it Bret. He could take it off Bret and then lose it HBK or back to Bret. But I think he probably left WWE before HBK got the job and before the Screwjob so the timing is really hard to pin down.

Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase - He came back in 1987 as the Million Dollar Man and became the biggest heel (or one of them) in the late 80s. He was really solid in the ring and he was great on the mike. I've heard the rumour of him being the champ at WM IV and that Savage was supposed to be IC champ but Honky Tonk Man nixed it. WM IV was the perfect time to do it. If not then have him win it at SSlam 88, then have him lose it back to Hogan at WM V or back to Savage.

Piper- had so much heat during the WM or WM 2, it's sad that it wasn't rewarded with a brief run for a few months. He had the ability to draw heat and he was a master on the mike, so to me he would've been great.


Scott Hall-In WWF, I think it would have been really hard. Like Hennig, he was good, in WWF, his drug issues weren't as apparent if he was using at all. The best idea would have been during Bret or HBK's run. More likely Bret's. Have Owen cost him the title and intensify their feud. In WCW, it would be great if it happened during the long drawn out Hogan reign.

Randy Savage - In WCW, he should have beaten Hollywood Hogan for the title and sette that feud. Instead they have him crawling him back to Hogan and NWO.

Booker T should have beaten Triple H at WM19. People were sick of H and Booker was over. The match was okay but the biggest letdown was the ending.

 

[The Brain]

I know Hogan had lost the belt prior, but the entire tournament was built around Dibiase buying the belt from Andre and a controversial decision with the Hebner brothers. How does Dibiase NOT walk out of there as champion? Hogan/Andre ends in a DQ, I get that, but how does this feud not continue with Dibiase as champion? It was typical WWF feel-good booking at the time (much like today), but Dibiase deserved the title run at that point. It's logical...the feud is Dibiase/Hogan with Andre/Savage as support characters. Dibiase or Hogan should've won the tournament to feud over the title. Also, can you remember a single match with Hogan/Dibiase?

The tournament was designed to create a babyface on the level of Hogan. I understand why you think Dibiase deserved a title reign but he actually got a push that was pretty much equal to a brief title run. He was responsble for ending Hulk Hogan's four year title reign. He walked out of the highest rated wrestling show ever with the WWF title around his waste. That was huge. Even though he was stripped of the title Dibiase still reaped the benefits and had WrestleMania built around him. It would be nice to go to wwe.com and see Dibiase's name on the list of world champions but what Dibiase got in late 1987/early 1988 was just as good.

With Hogan working a reduced schedule Vince needed a new babyface mega star. No one was going to match Hogan in terms of popularity at that point. Savage was already very popular but going over four different guys, including the hated Dibiase in the final, and having Hogan hand him the title put Savage at that level. Once Hogan was eliminated from the tournament the fans needed a new hero to emerge to stop Dibiase. Savage was that guy. And I will reiterate that the WrestleMania V main event was booked during the WrestleMania IV main event. WM4 had to go down exactly as it did in order for WM5 to work so well.

I was watching in 1990 and I remember Warrior's popularity and how it rivaled Hogan's, but that doesn't change his backstage rep or how awful he was in the ring or his mind-boggling blather with his promos. But Summerslam 1990 was roughly 4 or 5 months into his title reign...a lot of these issues HAD to be showing. Why not take a chance to build up a super heel (Rick Rude) who probably would've stayed if his career wasn't in neutral? Rude had the tools, he had Heenan (whom you should know was probably the most over heel in the WWF at the time) and have Warrior chase him to Royal Rumble 91 and eventually recapture the title, setting up Hogan-Warrior 2? How phenomenal would that have been? Again, Slaughter/Hogan is on my shortlist of worst Wrestlemania main events. After that, you potentially have feuds with Hogan/Rude (if their issues were resolved), Warrior/Rude again, possibly Savage/Rude (not sure why Savage "retired" at WM 7), or even revisiting Snake/Rude. Jake the Snake was one of the most over guys in the company in 90-91. In fact, he might've had the loudest pop at Royal Rumble 1990. I'm just saying you HAD to have seen the instability of the Ultimate Warrior ahead of time. Why not make a backup plan? A 4-5 month reign as champion wouldn't diminish the value of the belt. It's a pretty solid run.

By the way, I understand the Slaughter/Iraq heat at the time.

Regardless of how talented Rude was the WWF is all about the angle and Hogan vs. Slaughter was a great mania angle. I know a lot of people didn't care for the WM7 main event but it really was a great angle and one that was deserving of mania. Rude getting the title in late 1990 didn't fit in.

I understand what you're saying, but remember it in context: WWF in 1996 had no major heels (Vader possibly excluded and he'd already been fed to HBK), but apparently Vince wanted the title off of Shawn at Survivor Series (for whatever reason). Why not give it to a British Bulldog or Owen Hart (still consistent top guys even though HBK had beaten them) or even Mr. Perfect, who was looking to make a comeback at the time. The match at Survivor Series 96 with Sid was definitely the worst of 1996 for Shawn Michaels. I agree with Vader though. It's a shame he never won the title in 1996. He was over in January/February of that year, beating up Monsoon, the suspension, breaking Yokozuna's leg eventually, etc. A tragedy

Bulldog and Owen had already been fed to Shawn by that time too. Say what you want about Sid but he was always over with the fans and he definitely had the look of a champion. I think he was a more realistic champion than Owen or Davey at the time. As I mentioned, I could see Vader instead of Sid. Maybe even Mankind. Owen and Davey were good contenders but I just don't see either as champion.

 

[spaldoni]

Frequently, I see threads on here such as "Should so and so have been World champion?" and friendly debates ensue with some of the more common picks: Million Dollar Man, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, The British Bulldog, Owen Hart, Roddy Piper, Hall of Famer Koko B. Freaking Ware, etc.

(Just kidding...but seriously, how in the world is he a Hall of Famer?!)

Not only is my question who should've been world champion, but WHEN would you have made them champion?

I'll mention several:

- Rick Rude: Summerslam 1990. He should've defeated the Ultimate Warrior and started a brief reign on top for the title. I would've much rather have seen Rude/Hogan at Wrestlemania 7 than Hogan/Slaughter (who eventually won the title from Warrior). That was one of the slowest main events in Wrestlemania history. Rude/Hogan would've been fabulous.

- Million Dollar Man: Easy...Wrestlemania IV. He already bought the WWF title creating the tournament....he should've went over a fatigued Macho Man and captured the WWF Title. You could've even had Hogan accidentally costing Savage the title. And to top it off, Savage/Dibiase could've had a TREMENDOUS rematch at Summerslam to give Savage a World title run and set up Hogan/Savage at Wrestlemania V. Dibiase absolutely deserved that title run. He was hot at that point.

- Mr. Perfect: This one will undoubtedly be controversial. I contended several months back that the biggest missed opportunity in WWF history was a feud between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect in 1996. HBK was at his PEAK and Henning, when he returned in WCW, was still near his peak....think of the high quality of matches they could've had? If you remember, Perfect helped setup HBK getting laid out by Diesel on Raw (after HBK defeated Jerry Lawler) for the Good Friends, Better Enemies In Your House. This could've snowballed into a rivalry with Perfect/HBK squaring off at Summerslam 96 or my preference, Survivor Series 96 instead of HBK/Sid (one of HBK's worst matches in 1996 in my opinion) with the rematch in 1997 at the Royal Rumble. Would you have rather had HBK/Perfect twice or HBK/Sid? I thought so...besides the WWF at the time was lacking stars. If Perfect was interested in wrestling, what sense does it make to keep him out? Horrible missed opportunity.

- Scott Hall: In my opinion, he should've been WCW Champion in 1999. After he screwed Goldberg and had the Ladder Match against him, they should've pushed him toward a small World Title reign. Truly a legend in this business, but plagued by demons, at that point he was probably okay for a World title reign. Maybe the biggest star that never won the big one (although you could make an argument for Roddy Piper).

Who and when would yours be?

I like your idea for a Rude/Hogan match for Mania 7. I know Hogan/Slaughter was a huge angle but I didn't like it for the main event. Hacksaw Duggan could of filled the role against Slaughter. Rude vs Hogan would of been a great main event. Rude would of brought out the best in Hogan just like he did with Warrior. The build up would of been awesome because both guys were great on the mic, not to mention Bobby Heenan's involvement. It would of been gold and the card still would of drew big numbers.