xCompackx
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Post by xCompackx on Dec 29, 2016 2:47:44 GMT -5
(not sure if this is Wrest or Current but the question involves Current)
So, let's say that Bret didn't leave in 1997 and Vince kept the contract for 20 years, which would end next year. And let's say that everything else in WWE stayed the same. What do you think he'd be doing right now?
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 29, 2016 2:50:43 GMT -5
I think he'd still probably be retired, maybe with an office role.
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Post by KobashiChop on Dec 29, 2016 2:51:16 GMT -5
Getting a boner on live TV watching Nikki Bella matches.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 2:53:40 GMT -5
Well for one, Bret would definitely lose to Trips in a feud, hell a few feuds. He'd be considered washed up by 06 when Cena and Batista were running things as well so I'll say he would have became a producer around 07 (after a Cena feud) and he'd be doing that until now. Mind you that Bret's 9 years older than Shawn so he'd probably retire far sooner especially considering if we're going by your comments, Bret didn't have that long break like HBK did.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 6:06:25 GMT -5
I think the Attitude era would have broke him. Bret's character that helped ushering in the Attitude era was one of the greatest characters of all time, but to carry that into the official Attitude era, I think it would be a few years of not being able to have the matches he's best for and he'd burn out. Storylines were too topsy turvey for Bret Hart's strategical, smart paced matches. I think he'd try and find a way out, get a mild case of the Sammartinos and not associate with them for a while. Maybe lend his name to ROH as an Authority figure or something, and not come back till like the PG era.
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Post by Mid-Carder on Dec 29, 2016 6:11:45 GMT -5
In an office role, thinking of ways to keep Seth Rollins from getting into the building
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Dec 29, 2016 6:23:46 GMT -5
Thing is, you can't really say everything else would be the same, because so much was changed because of it.
Bret stays, no screwjob, no Mr McMahon, hurts Austin, there's another main event talent around, so does a spot open up for The Rock or Mick Foley like it did? Would HHH been able to work his way up the way he did?
Him leaving is such a pivotal moment.
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nisidhe
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Post by nisidhe on Dec 29, 2016 6:54:09 GMT -5
Thing is, you can't really say everything else would be the same, because so much was changed because of it. Bret stays, no screwjob, no Mr McMahon, hurts Austin, there's another main event talent around, so does a spot open up for The Rock or Mick Foley like it did? Would HHH been able to work his way up the way he did? Him leaving is such a pivotal moment. No departure for WCW, no concussion caused by Goldberg's kick, Hell to the No on the stunt that killed Owen, no stroke. Mind you, that might also mean no $3 million deal for WCW's tape library at the end of it all, no Invasion angle, possibly no Steph marrying Trips. The Rock would have still been a thing; Austin was already spiking things before the Mr. McMahon angle; the bloom would have fallen off Shawn's rose pretty quickly. The Vanilla Midgets might have had a vocal and passionate advocate in Bret (and Owen) bending Vince's ear. The biggest change of all, of course, would be no long-term Mr. McMahon and thus no evil Authority angle.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Dec 29, 2016 7:32:49 GMT -5
He'd have had a feud with Chris Jericho over the IC and some classic matches with him.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 8:44:04 GMT -5
1998 WWF would have destroyed Bret's love for the business most likely. He would have been out of place in that era, and chances are Russo would have done things with his character that would have drove Bret insane.
If Bret didn't get hurt in WCW and returned to the WWF/E some time in the 2000's to wrestle again (most likely with Shawn at some point), it would have been a much better end to his career.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 29, 2016 8:53:01 GMT -5
I feel that some of it was inevitable. Mr. McMahon WOULD still happen, I can comfortably say. The "McMemphis" stuff really just shows that Vince wanted a good excuse to bring the character to the WWF, plus much earlier stuff like Ted DiBiase being hired without being told of the Million Dollar Man gimmick, only that it was the gimmick Vince would choose for himself, personally, if he were a wrestler. Vince desired being an onscreen heel, and the Monday Night Wars would have given him his opportunity sooner or later.
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sfvega
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Post by sfvega on Dec 29, 2016 8:53:42 GMT -5
He would be exactly where Dean Malenko is right now. And Dean Malenko would be where Lance Storm is. And Lance Storm would be where I am. And I would be where Bret is, complaining on the internet about Seth Rollins. All in all, I liked the way things worked out for everybody better.
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Post by cabbageboy on Dec 29, 2016 9:33:50 GMT -5
Why exactly did Vince want or even agree to a 20 year deal in the first place? Bret would have been pushing 60 when it was over. As much as I like the Hitman, in the cold reality WWE lost nothing when he left. Keep in mind Bret basically took half a year off in 1996 while the company started getting buried by WCW in the ratings. For all the talk of his 1997 stuff he spent most of April-July hurt with a knee injury that year.
That 1995-97 era WWE locker room was one of the most toxic ever, right up with WCW circa 1998-99. It was no coincidence that business spiked after they were rid of the Hart and Michaels factions, although HHH would revive that backstage politics a few years later.
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Perfect Timing
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Post by Perfect Timing on Dec 29, 2016 9:34:55 GMT -5
So with that being said there would be no 4/10 ratings from him either.
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thecrusherwi
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Post by thecrusherwi on Dec 29, 2016 9:49:49 GMT -5
Tough to say, but you could easily see him getting The Rock's role as corporate champion. He might've even been a better fit.
Either way, I think he probably ends up in the same spot as Undertaker - gateway to the main event that would get a shot with the title every now and then. It's hard to imagine Bret in 1998-99 WWF, but he would've fit like a glove from 2000 on. Can you imagine him in relatively the same shape he was in 1999 before the injury on Smackdown in 2002-03? Matches with Angle, Lesnar, Eddie, Edge, Mysterio, Benoit, Undertaker, Cena. Would've been awesome.
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Dec 29, 2016 11:47:38 GMT -5
I feel that some of it was inevitable. Mr. McMahon WOULD still happen, I can comfortably say. The "McMemphis" stuff really just shows that Vince wanted a good excuse to bring the character to the WWF, plus much earlier stuff like Ted DiBiase being hired without being told of the Million Dollar Man gimmick, only that it was the gimmick Vince would choose for himself, personally, if he were a wrestler. Vince desired being an onscreen heel, and the Monday Night Wars would have given him his opportunity sooner or later. I think it could have, but not at the level that it was. Montreal and the fallout gave it a huge boost going into the Tyson stuff, but without that extra spark I can see it being a very popular wrestling angle, rather than a mainstream crossover, era defining feud.
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Post by Hit Girl on Dec 29, 2016 14:21:36 GMT -5
Being slapped by Renee.
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Post by JTG Fan on Dec 29, 2016 15:22:24 GMT -5
Why exactly did Vince want or even agree to a 20 year deal in the first place? Bret would have been pushing 60 when it was over. As much as I like the Hitman, in the cold reality WWE lost nothing when he left. Keep in mind Bret basically took half a year off in 1996 while the company started getting buried by WCW in the ratings. For all the talk of his 1997 stuff he spent most of April-July hurt with a knee injury that year. That 1995-97 era WWE locker room was one of the most toxic ever, right up with WCW circa 1998-99. It was no coincidence that business spiked after they were rid of the Hart and Michaels factions, although HHH would revive that backstage politics a few years later. Vince was desperate and Bret going to WCW in 1996, even after Bash at the Beach, honestly might have killed the WWF. The product had absolutely nothing going for it until Bret returned and provided a ray of hope. I think Vince was purely thinking short term with no regard for the long term impact such a contract might have. I think you are a bit too harsh on Bret here, but I do agree that in the long run it was better for the company that they pushed out the old guard and gave more emphasis to guys like Stone Cold, the Rock, and the collective midcard.
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Post by The Thread Barbi on Dec 29, 2016 15:57:50 GMT -5
Why exactly did Vince want or even agree to a 20 year deal in the first place? Bret would have been pushing 60 when it was over. As much as I like the Hitman, in the cold reality WWE lost nothing when he left. Keep in mind Bret basically took half a year off in 1996 while the company started getting buried by WCW in the ratings. For all the talk of his 1997 stuff he spent most of April-July hurt with a knee injury that year. That 1995-97 era WWE locker room was one of the most toxic ever, right up with WCW circa 1998-99. It was no coincidence that business spiked after they were rid of the Hart and Michaels factions, although HHH would revive that backstage politics a few years later. From what I gather, it was three years as an active wrestler on a million dollars per year, and then a 17 year deal in the office on a largely reduced rate. For all his faults, Bret was nothing if not a loyal employee who originally turned down WCW and their offer. Austin would have taken off, with Bret likely jobbing at Wrestlemania 14 for him. The rest of the Attitude Era would have persisted despite Hart.
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Milkman Norm
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Post by Milkman Norm on Dec 29, 2016 16:41:27 GMT -5
Wrestles for a few more years. Puts Austin over clean as a sheet at Wrestlemania XIV. Puts him over again in a rematch at the next INYH just to establish that Austin has fully passed him as the guy. Works with younger talent on their way up. At some point turns face again and has a final run in the semi-main spot. Goes to the office. Works as an agent, booker, etc.
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