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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Oct 18, 2011 9:16:53 GMT -5
What if instead of coming back to face Austin, after Bret jobbed to Shawn at Wrestlemania he just jumped to WCW right afterward?
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Post by Branimal on Oct 18, 2011 9:19:22 GMT -5
I doubt much would have changed..
Vince and Austin probably just would've happened sooner, I think?
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Post by flatsdomino on Oct 18, 2011 9:59:12 GMT -5
"IT'S THE HITMAN, BRET HART!"
"YEAH, BUT WHO'S SIDE IS HE ON?!?!"
That.
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Post by Protest the Chris Hero on Oct 18, 2011 10:31:38 GMT -5
Technically he did leave...at the start of HBK's title run and perfectly came back the night his reign ended...Think about that one
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Post by rapidfire187 on Oct 18, 2011 11:55:10 GMT -5
"IT'S THE HITMAN, BRET HART!" "YEAH, BUT WHO'S SIDE IS HE ON?!?!" That. Yup. Not saying he would have replaced Hogan as the third man, but I think it would have been hard for them to resist the temptation of aligning him with the NWO. |
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Post by cabbageboy on Oct 18, 2011 11:58:41 GMT -5
I would go so far as to say we don't have a late 90s wrestling boom. Bret would have probably ended up in the NWO as the 3rd man and not had the same impact as Hogan turning. Thus, WCW wouldn't move the needle, even if Hogan turned later it would be another guy turning.
However, the bigger problem is the WWF. In that 1997 time period Bret Hart made Austin a megastar. Without Bret in the WWF I have no idea what Austin does other than drift around and attack people left and right. Michaels was in such a horrible mindset that I doubt he would have made Austin look good. Further without Vince screwing Bret the WWF wouldn't have gotten that massive kinetic boost from Montreal. In essence Bret Hart's last year in the WWF from Survivor Series 1996 to Survivor Series 1997 is one of the most valuable runs anyone has ever had. He basically made the company's next top babyface (Austin) and two top heels (HBK, Vince).
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Sam Punk
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Post by Sam Punk on Oct 18, 2011 12:02:02 GMT -5
WWF goes bankrupt and you all are watching Nitro every monday.
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Post by rnrk supports BLM on Oct 18, 2011 14:01:48 GMT -5
It'd mean we'd get another wrestler working in the main event scene for much of '97; probably Vader or Mankind, maybe a heel Austin.
Beyond that, I don't think all that much would change. If Bret had been making a significant difference for WWF during that period, Vince wouldn't have foisted him off onto WCW.
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Post by cabbageboy on Oct 18, 2011 17:27:34 GMT -5
He wasn't really making a huge dent ratings wise, but I talking about quality of shows and his long term effect.
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Post by AnActualBear on Oct 18, 2011 17:57:04 GMT -5
Wrestling would be dead. WWF wouldn't have made its 2 biggest stars and WCW would have still gone out of business due to mismanagement and the impending AOL/Time Warner merger.
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Post by wcw on Oct 18, 2011 18:35:15 GMT -5
Wrestling would be dead. WWF wouldn't have made its 2 biggest stars and WCW would have still gone out of business due to mismanagement and the impending AOL/Time Warner merger. If by 2000 WCW had put WWF out of business. Which might not have happened as WWF could have still pulled out the Attitude Era but assuming WWF gets put out of business. Which would have happened If Austin had not broken out the way he did (Due to not being put over by Bret and Bret not being involved in Montreal doesn't lead to the McMahon character) WWF likely wouldn't have survived the onslaught WCW brought ratings wise from late 96 to early 98. But WCW would still be around now yes they would have been mismanaged due to the AOL/Time Warner merger. BUT before they could be mismanaged out of business they would have been sold to a media venture that would have hopefully managed the company correctly. Also ECW would have been in a much better position to ascend into the number two role and might still be around seeing as a major network would have wanted to get competition for a major product like ECW. |
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TheDieselTrain
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Post by TheDieselTrain on Oct 18, 2011 18:47:04 GMT -5
"IT'S THE HITMAN, BRET HART!" "YEAH, BUT WHO'S SIDE IS HE ON?!?!" That. Honestly thats who I thought the 3rd man was going to be. |
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Post by celticjobber on Oct 18, 2011 19:07:43 GMT -5
WWE as we know it would no longer exist. Period. And TNA would probably be the only company around.
The Bret-Austin feud shot Austin into superstardom, and the Montreal incident started the Mr. McMahon character. With Bret in WCW that whole time, the WWF would've been toast.
And Jamie Kellner would've likely still have cancelled WCW on Turner networks once he took over after the AOL/Time Warner merger. Essentially making the company worthless.
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Oct 18, 2011 23:22:23 GMT -5
would hbk ever turn heel, and would dx happen?
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giffyjames
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Post by giffyjames on Oct 18, 2011 23:25:21 GMT -5
WWF goes bankrupt and you all are watching Nitro every monday. exactly, if they woulda made him the third man for the nwo........wwe would be done as a whole if not in a very weakened state. owen would still be alive ecw would still be here as well |
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Post by jadison on Oct 19, 2011 3:04:46 GMT -5
I doubt much would have changed.. Vince and Austin probably just would've happened sooner, I think? Doubtful. Bret did a masterful job of putting Austin over. The whole double turn scenario could not have been done with anyone else. Bret leaving earlier would have really, really changed things. WWF might have died. |
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Post by onestepplan on Oct 19, 2011 6:13:32 GMT -5
Austin was already snowballing. If it wasn't Bret it would've been Vader or Mankind or Undertaker or Sid or maybe even Shawn. He couldn't be stopped once he found his gimmick. Bret put him over as much as someone can without ever losing to a guy, I guess, but Austin was poised to blow up with or without Hart. Rock, on the other hand, might've been politicked into jobberdom and then burial by HHHBK, if Bret wasn't protecting him.
As far as WCW, Hart probably would've been the third man, which wouldn't have had near as much impact as the Hogan turn, and WCW probably never would've gotten the leg up on McMahon that they did for a while.
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Lardlad
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Post by Lardlad on Oct 19, 2011 19:41:06 GMT -5
I would have started watching WCW in 1996 instead of 1998....
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amaron
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Post by amaron on Oct 19, 2011 19:51:23 GMT -5
I'm of the opinion that WCW wouldn't have folded if the WWE wasn't around. Part of the reason WCW was the red-headed stepchild of AOL/TW was because they spent WAY too much money and weren't making a profit.
With no WWE they wouldn't have had to pay the ton of money they did to get people in.
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Post by nerdinitupagain on Oct 19, 2011 23:08:46 GMT -5
I don't blame the guy for getting rid of WCW. They probably spent close to 100 million in operating it... and unless you were pulling huge ratings, what was the value? Plus, Law and Order reruns are much cheaper and probably are much higher in profit when it comes to selling advertising compared to WCW.
That being said... TW had some terrible managers who wanted their way or the high way which is eentually what killed that merger. I know so many people that worked there then... and know people much higher up there than I used to. Any one that came from the AOL side is still bitter about how badly TW excecutives screwed things up solely by not learning about their product.
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