Who should have had a WWF Championship reign during Hogan's era?

[Datdude2485]

Pretty much between 1984-1991 in the wwf/e Hulk Hogan was the champion. Grant it Macho Man had a decent reign for one whole year before dropping the title back to Hogan. And Warrior won it from Hogan at WM 6 before losing the title to Slaughter who ultimately lost to Hogan. Not to mention Andre the Giant's reign for two minutes and Undertaker's reign for like two days in late 1991. With all the major talent and Superstars the WWF/E had during this time period who should have won the WWF/E title atleast once and deserving to have had a decent title reign?

 

[Shocky]

If you're talking about during that specific time frame, then no one. Hogan deserved the title, no doubt. The NWA was the established world title for years, and Vinnie Mac wanted his title to have the credibility. Hogan in his combined first run took the WWF title from a regional territorial title to the elite world title.

As far as main event caliber talent that "desreved" to be champion, here are a few. If these men didn't compete during the Hogan Era, they would have been world champions.

Ted DiBiase: Simply one of the best heels ever.
Mr. Perfect: Very good like DiBiase
Rick Rude: Questionable, but better then the likes of many that have held the title since this time.

Really those are the only 3 that spring to mind.

 

[Chauncy Talon]

My hero Mr. Perfect. That guy was the total package. He had the charsma, the in-ring ability and the look. Hogan was the reason why he did not win the World Title and had to settle for the Midcard belt, both in WWF/E and WCW.

Ted DiBiase should of been the World Champion because he was destine to win the belt, but because of the Natural Butch Reed jumping ship to NWA/WCW, it knocked him out of the picture. The story goes like this:

Ricky Steamboat was leaving the WWF for WCW. Steamboat was suppose to drop the title to Reed but Reed no show the event he was suppose to win the title at. V.Mac wanted to throw Savage into the mix, but Hogan agreed to drop the title so Savage can take it and to put Honky Tonk Man in the match instead.

Also, I have to give it to the "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich. He could of been the whole deal. He was the Magnum T.A. of WWF/E. Women loved him, he had the huge body and was very charismatic. I believe that if he would of won the title, the curse would of been uplifted.

All these guys had the IC title, beside Ted, and was a major factor of the WWF/E. All are Hall-of-Famers and former World Champions, but none of them had the WWF/E World title.

 

[4-Real]

This is an easy one. Ted DiBiase was one of the most over heels of his time. In the ring, he was a technical machine, with a great character: A rich snob. The fans loved to hate him and think of all the heel heat he could have generated had Andre been allowed to give him the belt. Mr. Perfect was equally as good in the ring as Ted was, however he lacked the character. He had the charisma alright, but all his character was was a cocky wrestler.

Other ideas of who could have held the belt include the likes of Scott Steiner. Turn him heel on Rick, give him a haircut, and you've got a potential main eventer right there. I also feel that Marty Jannetty was underused at that time. He could have feuded longer with HBK and developed a creative gimmick of his own that could have gotten him to his own level. You see that a lot today with teams like Miz and Morrison both finding singles success, as well as Legacy looking to recieve pushes after they split up.

 

[Ducey13]

Hogan was the Man. But the guys who deserved it but never got it wasTed Dibiase for sure. Its ashame he never once won it. Possibly Mr. Perfect. But the one guy who I felt should have been WWF Champion and never was, was Rowdy Roddy Piper. Roddy Piper was one of the best ever!

 

[cawsnallthis]

I'm going to go with Roddy Piper. The first Wrestlemania were built on the tremendous heel heat of the Rowdy One. With the whole Rock and Wrestling deal, the WWF got its first mainstream national publicity and set them in the direction of being a global, rather than regional company. Combined with the fact that Piper was one of the greatest promo guys the business had ever seen, a legit heel run as champion against Hogan could have lifted the company to even greater heights. Piper's runs as US and World TV champ as he feuded with Flair in the Mid Atlantic area were some of my favorite memories as wrestling as a kid. Piper would've been a quintessential heel champ. Shame he never got the shot because of Hogan's ego.

 

[XgringolocoX]

I've always been absolutely dumbfounded as to why neither Mr. Perfect nor Ted DiBiase won the WWF Title. 2 or my all time favorite wrestlers. Even growing up when I believed (yeah, I was a dumb little kid. But so were you! lol) these two guys were the bad guys, I loved to hate 'em. mr Perfect was so damn good in the ring and DiBiase just might have been the best on the mic for his generation, certainly one of THE best of all time.
I for one think people would have filled every arena to the rafters to see Hogan try to get the belt back. The title should never have been stripped. This would have gotten death threat heat. Seriously.
Perfect could have had a great run just plainly outwrestling the entire roster. I now appreciate him more looking back at old matches and how he sold. He put the guy he was in the ring over, even if he won the match, everytime. Mr Perfect was a boon to this business and truely deserved a title run.
I think this is a landslide cause it'd just the plain fucking truth.
Steamboat is another guy that should have had the strap. Some of the greatest matches OF ALL TIME include this man. Hands down should have held the WWF Championship.

 

[SickJames]

I agree with Mr. Perfect as someone said. How the hell did he not get it? With a name like that and a gimmick of perfection, maybe ppl would disagree with me, but why not did he not just stay undefeated forever? Perfect win streak. That asks the question how big a star would Goldberg have been? Then they couldve had the undefeated Mr. Perfect vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania (btw for him having the title being undefeated, you could have him drop it after an injury having never been defeated still)

Anyway back to the topic:

Roddy Piper

When I heard that guy was never champion, I heard it around the time he was getting inducted in the HOF, I was shocked. After all I heard about this guy, he was never champion. That confused the fuck out of me how some guys from back in the day never won that belt. I like Hogan, but damn, talk about overgiving him the belt and leaving out guys who deserved it

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I think Hogan was the only face who should have held the belt up until 1991. Hogan WAS pro wrestling. He was the face of the entire industry. Was Hogan selfish? Yes he was, but he had the right to be. Without him, the WWF wouldn't have gotten nearly as big as it did. The Warrior was an ok candidate to hold the title as a face, but not long-term. I think they jumped the gun on that a bit, and in no time, the title was back to Hogan. The WWE should have used better heels against him, and had him lose the title that way a few times.

Those heels could have been guys like Ted DiBiase. He should have held that title for a while, and ultimately lost it back to Hogan. Same thing goes for Perfect and Rude. Both great, great heels. Those guys were so talented, and were fresh. I don't think any face back then would have been as good for the title as Hogan. Bret Hart was a good candidate to take over for Hogan, and he did. Too bad Hogan wouldn't help him out with that.

 

[wrestling fan 666]

During that era, Hogan was the man for the belt...without question. But the people who could've had a good reign with the title would be:

Roddy Piper-a talent they never truly utilized to his true potential.

Rick Rude- the man was a world title holder in the NWA and the WCCW. He could have easily handled the competition.

Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig- this guy had the whole deal; great on the mic, working the crowd, being a worker, as well as handling his own in the ring.

 

[hogan is the greatest]

simple answer nobody should have got a run period. they had hogan the greatest of all time the wrestling god. as long as they had hogan they didnt need anybody else, hogan is all they needed.

 

[killer68]

Hogan was a great champion for the WWF at the time, however Andre the Giant should have held it legitmately not win and sell the title. Dibiase should have held it, along with Perfect, Pipper, and Jake The Snake Roberts. I think Jake would have had one of the best runs out of all of them just for his psychology alone. He was by far leaps and bounds ahead of the curve. The program with Taker alone shows so much in a short period of time before Jake left. Dibase easily should have won it as well, Perfect and Pipper as well just not sure on who they should have beat.

 

[theHeadliner]

Before Ted Dibiase was signed to the WWF, he was slated to win the NWA championship, so he was a good candidate. He was a good worker, great on the mic, and had a cool gimmick. Mr. Perfect also feuded with Hogan while Hulk was champion in the late 1980s. He also could have carried the belt and his character was over.

 

[Davi323]

The only two that really merited it were the Million Dollar Man and Piper. No offense to Curt Hennig or Rick Rude, but, the WWF was correct to keep them at the midcard. Their wrestling style simply was better suited to Intercontinental title matches than they were to Heavyweight matches. Times have changed since then, but if we are strictly talking about the 80s, neither would have been WWF title material. Ted DiBiase would have been though, as well as Rowdy Roddy Piper. No faces could have come close to match Hogan, so you would have to look at the heels...and in the WWF at the time, nobody was better at being a heel than DiBiase or Piper. Even then, they would have been short title reigns, as there would be little doubt Hogan would quickly reclaim his title.

 

[baldjedi]

I must say Dibiase should have been a candidate because he had a great feud with Hogan and it would have made it even that much better. I am still shocked to find out Piper never won the title because he should have wont it even if it was once because you know the crowds were a mark for him. Mr. Perfect definitely should have had the title because he was perfect lol, but the promos he could have given with the title would have been amusing. I must also agree Jake the Snake would have been very interesting during a title reign.

I know Hogan was the man during his time, but what made him interesting was the feuds he had fighting for the title. Him fighting with Dibiase, Mr. Perfect and Piper while each of them had a title run would have been entertaining. Hogan could have even taken a backseat and supported The Snake during a title run.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Rick Rude all the way, he was red hot as a heel during his IC title reign and IMO he should have unifed the belts and then had Warrior chase... The fact that he carried WCW as its main heel for 3 years proved he could have carried the load for WWE...

Piper no... he never needed a belt, like many of the guys of the era... Jake, Bossman... they just looked wrong with titles...

DiBiase too is a strange one as he never "needed" the belt...but probably deserved a short run... his own belt fit the character far better... Perfect was never over enough during that time, he did feud with Hogan briefly, but this was before he was paired with Heenan... had they gone that route right off the bat rather than the Genius it might have been different. He needed that IC run

Towards the end of the run, Davey Boy Smith could have been an interesting feud for Hogan if they hadn't gone the Slaughter route... I could imagine a Hogan/Bulldog team with the turn Smith later did on Diesel... same for Jim Neidhart... I could have seen him as a heel against Hogan...

 

[Mr_billy]

Paul Orndoff, he was good as a heel and a face, he was over, and he had a wicked pile driver. He also feuded with Hogan during that time, so putting the belt on him, even for a bit would have been believable. It could have even been a dirty win with some interference by Heenan, who was the best manager ever.

Dibiase, Henning and Piper would have been good as well, but most of the posts above mention them.

 

[Tastycles]

Nobody should have won it for the first four years he held the title, as it was that time that allowed the company to grow, but come 1988, I'd have let DiBiase have the title to see if a heel could do it. I'd have let him buy it around the time of the first Royal Rumble by haing Andre win it first, then have him pay off his opponents all the way until WrestleMania IV, when I'd have Savage beat him. After he won it back off Savage, it was right fro Warrior to get it next, but I think Perfect would have been a better guy to take it off Warrior than Slaughter. Rude, if he was still around at the time, I can't remember, would have been a good option.

 

[Wrath]

With all due love and respect to Piper,Mr Perfect and Rude I think even though how over they are all of them might've been overshadowed by the great Hulk Hogan. Because in Hogan era WWF was all about Hogan but I think except for one man. He could've really been so much bigger heel than he is right now. You know who I mean The Million Dollar Man. He was getting huge reactions from crowd and just think about how much would he have gotten heel heat if he really held that title. WWE really missed a huge opportunity there. Do you remember when Hogan lost the title to Andre. Children were crying. Just think about possible angles if Dibiase was champion. He could've always screwed Hogan with his money power. He could've done some dirty tactics to keep his title like paying a referee,authority figure to do some favors for him, or he could've paid his opponent to lay down for him. Just think about how much heat this man get. I'm hell sure children would've cried and hate him more if he screwed Hogan all the time.

Just think about Ted Dibiase being a dominant champion for a year even one title reign would've made him much much bigger heel and superstar in the history of professional wrestling. I just can't imagine crowd reaction towards Dibiase. He could've even been considered as best heel champion of all time. He sure didn't need a title but if he even got one he could've been a much much bigger superstar.

 

[buddyriffic]

Paul Orndoff, he was good as a heel and a face, he was over, and he had a wicked pile driver. He also feuded with Hogan during that time, so putting the belt on him, even for a bit would have been believable. It could have even been a dirty win with some interference by Heenan, who was the best manager ever.

Dibiase, Henning and Piper would have been good as well, but most of the posts above mention them.

I'm pretty much going with this guy, in that DiBiase, Hennig and Piper all could have had some kind of run, but everyone said it already. I like the Paul Orndorff idea as well. This was my first "heel turn" I ever witnessed and I was kinda just like, "That guy's an asshole!" lol. If he would have won the title it would've been huge for that feud, which to me was already epic the feud drew a legit 61,470 fans (despite claims of 74,000) to The Big Event in Toronto back in '86 which I have on VHS. It was a massive wrestling event, seriously.


And to offer a different perspective, thinking in somewhat of a bubble back then.......I really wanted Earthquake or even Dino Bravo to win the strap off Hogan back then. Quake went on to have a pretty good career especially the feuds with Jake Roberts and Hacksaw Duggan. Not to mention he lived down the road from my friend's sister but yeah.....anyway that was a pipe dream. But it could've worked even if it was Tuesday in Texas style where Hogan got it right back.

 

[CraigThe13th]

I'm gonna break away from the mold of my fellow posters and mention a face who could have had a good run with the belt back in the day.

Jake Roberts, was super over, much like Orton nowadays, his finisher was the ultimate 'lights out' finishing move which the crowd would chant for damn near the whole of Jake's matches.

Don't think he could carry the company (not even accounting for his demons) year to year a la Hogan, Austin, Cena but he could have chased the title more often and even won it as a heel or face.

 

[NaturallyPricele$$]

I'm gonna break away from the mold of my fellow posters and mention a face who could have had a good run with the belt back in the day.

Jake Roberts, was super over, much like Orton nowadays, his finisher was the ultimate 'lights out' finishing move which the crowd would chant for damn near the whole of Jake's matches.

Don't think he could carry the company (not even accounting for his demons) year to year a la Hogan, Austin, Cena but he could have chased the title more often and even won it as a heel or face.

His demons is the exact reason he was never given a title run. Jake Roberts has always been his own worst enemy. He was so talented yet he allowed himself to be controlled by alcohol and drugs. His life was a train wreck there is no way you could have someone like this as the flagship of your company. Imagine a title win by Jake, followed by months and months of promos leading up to Wrestlemania, only to have him busted for DUI and Cocaine possession the night before or possibly go on a bender and no show the event.

The same can be said for Kerry VonErich. A huge waste of talent.

 

[donp71883]

Million Dollar Man, easily. All the man had to do was walk out from behind the curtain, and everybody was booing the hell out of him. They could have even played it off as if he was paying the refs to sway the matches

 

[beeflange]

I think Paul Orndorff deserved a title reign as well as Ted Dibiase. Jake the Snake should have held the IC title but alot of guys should have held titles back then like Snuka never held a title and he should have at least been IC champ. Mr. Perfect would have been better to have the world title during the Bret Hart era. I think alot of guys deserved the IC title more back then instead of the world title.


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[RicSpade]

I think Dibiase was one of the guys just because he is one of the top heels in WWF at the time, but when you really look at it until Macho's heel turn there hadn't been a real Heel WWF champion since the Iron Sheik so there were plenty of heels who could've had the title Henning, Rude, but honestly the one man I think about is Jake Roberts.

Jake while having his issues of drug problems and this that and the other thing was one of the top guys in the company and when they were turning him heel they were going to have him have a feud with Hogan but when he dropped Hogan with the DDT they were chanting for two minutes Jake instead of Hogan so it never happened, but just imagine if he had won the belt from anyone or had even fought Hogan? But you never take your drawing face and have him face the other face....but Jake is definitely my pick