Choose a New WWF Champion (Fall 1992)

[Jeremy]

Bret Hart indicated in his book that Chief Jay Strongbow told him that Vince had a list of 6 people he was considering to take the title off of Ric Flair. The decision ultimately was to put the title onto Bret Hart but I am wondering who everyone here would choose if they couldn't choose Bret.

I will give a list of 6 guys, just as Vince McMahon would have. It is speculated that among Bret Hart were Rick Martel and Tito Santana. So they are on this list. Tatanka had just started his winning streak about 6 months prior at this point. Crush STEAMROLLED Repo Man at Summerslam 1992. The Mountie had already won the Intercontinental Title that year. Papa Shango had made an appearance in the Main Event of WrestleMania 8 with a Run In and had even feuded with The Ultimate Warrior briefly

TL;DR: Choose one of these 6 competitors to get a WWF Title reign in fall 1992 instead of Bret Hart - Rick Martel, Tito Santana, Tatanka, Crush, The Mountie and Papa Shango

[Crusty Ruffles]

That's a rough one. Out of that group, they really made the right choice.

Tatanka/Crush - At that time, they weren't ready.
Papa Shango - Don't see it.
Martel - I love him, but his window was closed at that point.
Tito Santana - They would've had to have built this for a while to make him credible. Don't see it.
The Mountie - Not anywhere near someone that should be World Champion.

Out of all those guys, Martel would be the safest bet. The problem would be the heel/heel dynamic of him against Flair. It could've worked in the end, but it would've taken a lot of effort and creativity to go that route.

[slappy]

I like Tito so I'd choose him.

[celticjobber]

Of that list, the only one who would've even remotely worked is Crush. But that's really pushing it.

What about Mr. Perfect? They could've turned him face a couple of months early, and have him beat Flair for the title.

[RowdyRobbyPiper]

Wasn't Hennig collecting I surname payments from Lloyd's of Londonat this point?

Tatanka - too green at that point.
Crush - I never felt Brian Adams had that "it" factor.
The Mountie - loved Jacques Rougeau and he killed as the Mountie, but I can't picture him as a World champ
Papa Shango - not really.
Rick Martel/Tito Santana - both would have needed to have been built up as top contenders. Tito, especially would have needed the type of booking he got when they toured Spain (Tito holds a victory over Undertaker at a WWF show in Spain).
I am surprised that these discussions never mention Undertaker. 'Taker dominated Hogan in their title feud and 'Taker steamrolled over Jake Roberts which, in kayfabe, should have made him a top contender.

As it was, Bret was the best choice of that lot. He got a really strong rub from Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania 8 and he and Davey stole the show at Summerslam in London.

[jason1980s]

Bret is the very best, if not the only choice at the time. Perfect could have turned earlier with a title win over his former protégé. Tatanka could have gotten a Goldberg-like streak title win early on. But even then his match at Summerslam was cut from the video or US feed so it wasn't like he was thought to be a main eventer at the time.

Bret was slowly built over the last year with the IC title win, the passing the torch from Piper and match at Summerslam where he still looked awesome despite a loss.

Tito had been in Koko B. Ware JTTS like territory for years, I think if he had won the title it would have meant curtains for WWF.

Mountie was on his way out but even then he was down on the card from a few months earlier. He was scheduled for an IC match with Bulldog at Survivor Series but even that was probably because there were few qualified opponents.

Martel had been on the losing end of a feud with Tatanka plus he would leave for months at a time, I've heard due to a real estate business. By mid 1993 he was gone again.

Papa Shango was on the downside of the card by late 1992. Crush could have been a good choice based on being a strong guy and good look for a face but not much was invested in him at the time. He got a throw away match at Summerslam (probably the one that would be cut for time constraints like some WrestleMania matches) and didn't get a match at Royal Rumble.


Warrior and Bulldog were gone by Survivor Series but if the idea was put out early enough they could have been contenders. It would be the next step for Bulldog and Warrior was always around HW title contention.

[mrjl]

Warrior and Bulldog would have been out because of the steroid trial. Crush was big but not ripped

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

I'd go with Martel since he was far and away the best worker of the six you have listed. Okay, maybe Tito comes close or was even better, but by 1992 I would just never take Tito seriously as champ after all the jobbing he did. Tweaking Martel's model gimmick and making him more dominant I think could go a long way and give him a decent reign (especially if the reign last at least a few months). Plus, he already had experience as a world champ with his AWA reign.

Other than that I think Tatanka/Crush might have been able to be booked as unbeatable monsters, but that usually suits heels better this early in their runs (IE Taker, Yokozuna, Sheamus, etc.). Shango and The Mountie would have flopped (despite Rougeau being a very good worker).

[BlackoutCreature]

Crush, maybe Tatanka, were the only two choices that really would've worked, and even then both guys were still a few months away from really remotely even being credible World Champions. That said, I still believe Crush should've gotten Lex Luger's push in 1993.

The Mountie, while a major longshot, might have worked with like a Honky Tonk Man style reign. I always felt that Jacques Rougeau was probably the most underrated heel in the business at the time, he just reeked sleaziness.

The former Strike Force members and Papa Shango though I just can not imagine carrying the company as champions.

[Nickybojelais]

Really struggling to make a case for any of those guys.

Martel & Santana = Solid workers whose time for a run at the top had long since passed
Crush = No...just No
Tatanka = Too soon
Mountie = More of a joke character, had his role in Mid-Card

Only guy I can think applicable out of those Six is Papa Shango for a short transitional reign, similar to that of Undertaker the year before. He was a credible monster at this point, could've easily used a curse on the Champion (Randy Savage) to win the belt.

The best option outside of those six suggested is to turn Perfect face sooner to defeat Flair - Defend against Razor at Royal Rumble '93 and maybe pass the belt onto Bret at Wrestlemania 9.

[wildojinx]

Taker would be a good option, but in 1992 he was feuding with the likes of Berzerker and Kamala. You cant really go from those wrestlers to beating flair to become world champion (i know bret wrestled those guys as champion, but thats due to the whole fighting champion gimmick).

[Digital Witness]

I think this idea came about before the steroid trial came about, and Bulldog was one of the people in consideration. If I remember right, the list was Hart, Bulldog, Michaels, Santana, Martel, and Perfect.

Out of the list of guys, it had to be Hart or Santana as Taker wasn't getting his face turn yet, Michaels just turned heel not all that long ago, Martel was heeling it up as The Model and Bulldog would have still left.

Perfect could have possibly worked had the face turn been started much earlier in 92, but then he still had his back injury that kept him sidelined for quite a while.

Santana would have required some build up and some big wins to justify that. Also, no El Matador.

I think Hart was the best option, and good thing, that's the option we got.

One thing that I always wondered, would a Roddy Piper title run have worked during this time? He had the IC belt at the beginning of the year and was Flair's first feud in WWF.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Rick Martel is the only one of those anywhere near ready at that point, but they would have to build him up for some time. I'd have Gorilla and Vince refer to his achievements in and out of the WWF, point out that he's a former world champion, lasted over 50 minutes in the 1991 royal rumble and that he's almost as accomplished as Flair himself and that all he needs WWF gold. Bobby Heenan and Perfect would object to that, of course, leading to a showdown between Flair and a still heel Martel, only to have Flair back off and sic Money Inc on him. Martel would reappear in a few weeks, attacking, facing and defeating Money inc in singles matches, despite interference from Flair, building up to a match for the title.

[BlackoutCreature]

May 4, 2013 10:14:25 GMT -5 Digital Witness said:

One thing that I always wondered, would a Roddy Piper title run have worked during this time? He had the IC belt at the beginning of the year and was Flair's first feud in WWF.

The thing about Piper is that he was mostly done after WrestleMania VIII. Outside of a few cameos and his mini-feud with Lawler in 94, he was pretty much retired and gone from the WWF until his run as President in 1996. He wasn't even doing commentary anymore. Would he be willing to take on the schedule that the WWF World Champion would've been required to take on at that point in his career? Yeah, a run with the big belt would've been a nice pay-off to his career, but he might've felt being with his family was more important at the time.

On another point, I'm amazed at the number of people backing Martel for the title reign. Don't get me wrong, I liked the guy, he played his role well and was a great worker, but I don't think I could ever have seen him as anything more then a mid-carder for life. And yes, I know he was a former AWA World Champion, but its my understanding that his title reign wasn't really considered too successful, with him being looked at as way too bland to carry a company.

[Digital Witness]

May 4, 2013 10:22:34 GMT -5 BlackoutCreature said:

May 4, 2013 10:14:25 GMT -5 Digital Witness said:

One thing that I always wondered, would a Roddy Piper title run have worked during this time? He had the IC belt at the beginning of the year and was Flair's first feud in WWF.

The thing about Piper is that he was mostly done after WrestleMania VIII. Outside of a few cameos and his mini-feud with Lawler in 94, he was pretty much retired and gone from the WWF until his run as President in 1996. He wasn't even doing commentary anymore. Would he be willing to take on the schedule that the WWF World Champion would've been required to take on at that point in his career? Yeah, a run with the big belt would've been a nice pay-off to his career, but he might've felt being with his family was more important at the time.

Fair enough, didn't even think of that.

[thecrusherwi]

I think I would've gone with Undertaker. He was the only guy on the roster who had ever beaten Hogan and he had a larger than life personality. Although his matches in that stage of his zombie gimmick were pretty atrocious. I'm sure than was 90% of the reason Bret was made champion. If we can't have a larger than life guy with the belt, we ought to make sure the the main event is the best match on the card.

As far as that list, no one on there was championship material,

[babyfootball]

The main event was really low on monster heels in that period between 1992 (Sid/Shango) and 1994-95, the glory days of King Kong Bundy and Mabel!

[molson5]

It's amazing how bleak the main event scene was by late 1992 as compared to early 1992.

[Juice]

Undertaker, HBK, Perfect,

[britishbulldog]

Of the list. Tito for sure. He would have been easy to build back up. Bring up his past and have him pick up some big wins. Make it a point that he knew he had faltered after teh Strike Force break up and the break up haunted him. Do a angle where he goes to find the man he used to be and have it culminate with a win over Flair.
Tito had charisma, was a great worker and was well respected.