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Post by RowdyRobbyPiper on May 5, 2013 2:22:10 GMT -5
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. That would have needed a complete 180 in his booking and, as was mentioned earlier, he can't be El Matador.
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Post by britishbulldog on May 5, 2013 2:25:16 GMT -5
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. That would have needed a complete 180 in his booking and, as was mentioned earlier, he can't be El Matador. The El Matador character would have made it harder, but again, had they had him come to a realization that he had been wasting the last part of his career due to the mental damage done by Martel it could have worked. Plus you would then be able to actually blow off the feud with Martel.
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Post by RowdyRobbyPiper on May 5, 2013 15:23:32 GMT -5
That would have needed a complete 180 in his booking and, as was mentioned earlier, he can't be El Matador. The El Matador character would have made it harder, but again, had they had him come to a realization that he had been wasting the last part of his career due to the mental damage done by Martel it could have worked. Plus you would then be able to actually blow off the feud with Martel. Oddly enough, Tito wrestled Flair on the second episode of Raw. youtu.be/sqMP0kD0f9IMaybe a transitional title run for Tito could have worked, except that Flair was out popping him.
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Post by cabbageboy on May 5, 2013 17:44:30 GMT -5
Okay, I can't just put the belt on Taker or Bret in late 1992. This is a tough one. Of the guys mentioned I'd go with Martel, since the mini feud at SS with Michaels hinted at a babyface turn that never really happened. If Martel had used that feud to fully turn face and go on a run, maybe he would be viable for a while. But really these are all B list choices. If I wanted to truly create a star I'd go with Tatanka, who actually DID gain a few wins over Flair during the 1992 European tour (as did Bulldog). Perfect had yet to turn face on Flair so he would be out at this point. Personally I would keep the belt on Flair until WM 9, have Bret win the Rumble, then do the title change at WM. Maybe Perfect is last man eliminated at the Rumble and faces Bret after WM.
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Mac
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Post by Mac on May 5, 2013 21:15:28 GMT -5
None of those six work. And any amount of fncy booking won't help them out. We'd look back on any of them being champion as "wrestlecrap" to thie very day.
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Jeremy
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Post by Jeremy on May 6, 2013 23:52:00 GMT -5
None of those six work. And any amount of fncy booking won't help them out. We'd look back on any of them being champion as "wrestlecrap" to thie very day. Hence why I didn't include Taker, Bret or Savage lol
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Post by lildude8218 on May 7, 2013 0:24:57 GMT -5
the only correct answer here is Bobby Lashley
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2013 12:40:58 GMT -5
Crush was the obvious choice. He was getting over big time back then. He had already been a tag champ with Demolition and a few Axe and Smash run ins would have been great.
Roddy Piper would have been ok.
Bret Hart was actually a surprise to me, he wasn't a main event guy at that point and I was shocked that he was the champion. He made me a believer though.
Tito and Rick Martel were old by that point and neither guy was really over. They were lower mid card.
The Undertaker should have been champion, all those feuds were stupid and made everyone look bad.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on May 7, 2013 21:22:58 GMT -5
That's a sad, sorry list of options.
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Post by cabbageboy on May 7, 2013 22:35:32 GMT -5
Actually, yes, Bret was basically a main eventer at that point. He had just more or less main evented SS 1992 at Wembley in front of 80,000 people. In retrospect, it almost feels like he jobbed the IC title that night in order to move up to the world title. Personally I think Bret should have won the 1993 Rumble and challenged Flair at WM 9, won the belt, then Flair could have his falling out with Perfect and Perfect could send Flair packing to WCW.
Crush was far too new as a singles guy to be a viable world champ then. If they had put him in the Luger spot a year later though it might have gotten over. I think Crush was just about as wrecked by a bad heel turn as Tatanka. He just never got over as a heel.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2013 14:49:54 GMT -5
No Undertaker or HBK? Weird. Taker is probably a better choice at the time than HBK (a rising heel but still very midcard).
Tito's a bewildering choice - a wonderful one, because of his journeyman status and long career there, but odd mainly because he was such a midcarder with a long knack of putting everyone else over. To put the belt on him......would be sensible, but doomed to be seen as a interim champ from the get-go.
Papa Shango was moreorless a midcard gimmick after the Warrior stuff ended. Putting THE belt on him would've been nonsense. Mountie was moreorless out by late summer '92, I thought. He returned after a few months away in '93 with Pierre. And like others have said, Tatanka and Crush were too "young" in their careers. A very early title run like that could've damaged them.
I really like Martel, though. I think that summer feud with Michaels could've made his a face again, and grabbing the title would've cemented that more than enough for it to work. It'd be interim, I think in the end, but it might not come off like that (esp. like a Tito title reign would).
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mizerable
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Post by mizerable on May 8, 2013 15:04:41 GMT -5
I think Crush was just about as wrecked by a bad heel turn as Tatanka. He just never got over as a heel. This. Of the options, I'd go with Martel, but it would be SUCH a 180 that would need at least 6 months prior to establish, otherwise it would fail miserably.
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Post by wildojinx on May 8, 2013 16:27:36 GMT -5
the only correct answer here is Bobby Lashley So the title would go to an 18 yr old?
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on May 8, 2013 16:37:26 GMT -5
I think Crush was just about as wrecked by a bad heel turn as Tatanka. He just never got over as a heel. This. Of the options, I'd go with Martel, but it would be SUCH a 180 that would need at least 6 months prior to establish, otherwise it would fail miserably. Not really, you'd only need a few weeks. He was in a heel on heel feud with HBK, use that to have him see the light and go after the kind of arrogant men he'd been for the last 3 years, first Michaels, then the ultimate arrogant man, Ric Flair. Heck, not changing anything else, Lex Lugar debuted as the Narcassist at the Rumble, have him win instead of Yokozuna, and you're continuing that theme into another feud.
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repomark
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Post by repomark on May 8, 2013 17:46:42 GMT -5
I think if I remember correctly doesn't Bret list some of the guys that were on the list in his book? Certainly Undertaker and Davey Boy were amongst them - and Davey Boy was not chosen as has been mentioned because of the whole steroid scandal.
Some options: Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, Razor Ramon, Randy Savage.
Razor might have been a good call. Certainly the Undertaker would have worked as he had already held the belt at that point once any way.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on May 8, 2013 19:33:29 GMT -5
Tito and Rick Martel were old by that point and neither guy was really over. They were lower mid card. Tito, sure, but Martel was only 2 years older than Bret Hart, both were younger than Flair.
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Post by lildude8218 on May 8, 2013 22:56:12 GMT -5
the only correct answer here is Bobby Lashley So the title would go to an 18 yr old? 16 year old. and yes.
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Jeremy
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Post by Jeremy on May 9, 2013 3:13:53 GMT -5
That's a sad, sorry list of options. You'd have to have faith in one of those guys though. They are possibly the future of your company
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Post by bytor on May 9, 2013 4:12:13 GMT -5
I don't like any of those choices. Though to be fair, hearing Bret was the new champion was one of the biggest "wtf" moments of my childhood as a wrestling fan. I may not have liked Hogan and Warrior but I accepted them as champions. I didn't accept Bret as a top guy until he won KOTR.
Tatanka and Crush- Way too early in their pushes. Even Diesel had won the IC & Tag titles before his shock victory over Backlund. Plus Crush was a lousy wrestler and Tatanka was very inexperienced.
Tito Santana- Way too late for Tito. He had been a pretty irrelevent JTTS type for years by 1992.
Rick Martel- I liked "The Model" as a heel but he's another guy way below WWF title status and having him randomly turn face in order to beat Flair for the title would have been just about the weirdest thing ever.
Papa Shango- Was one of my favorite wrestlers in 1992 but guys like him seemed to exist outside the WWF title picture. Plus he was a heel and had terrible matches.
The Mountie- One of my all time favorite wrestlers but another guy that would have been a "wtf" as champion. Yet another midcard heel.
While still not good, Undertaker is better than any of those choices. He had history with Flair that could be played up. The problem with Taker was he would have had nobody to work with. Undertaker vs. Kamala as a WWF Title feud? Ugh.... Undertaker vs. Shango? I might have liked it at the time but the matches would have been the pits.
I think the best thing to do would have been to hold off Flair's loss until Royal Rumble. Have Perfect turn on him in the build up to Survivor Series and then build to Perfect/Flair as your Royal Rumble main event. Perfect goes over and drops the strap to Royal Rumble winner, Bret Hart, at WM 9.
Or you could have just had Savage beat Flair and run with the belt for a few months.
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