4real
Wade Wilson
Posts: 27,639
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Post by 4real on Jan 25, 2020 23:56:51 GMT -5
Even if they did an angle where HBK replaces Hogan as leader you just know Hogan would turn face and win over Shawn in the end. Hogan just had too much clout.
I’m thinking Shawn would have basically taken up Bret’s spot in the upper midcard for 98 so that means feuds with Flair, Benoit & Booker rather than high profile matches with Hogan or Goldberg.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2020 0:42:18 GMT -5
Would he be allowed to call himself Shawn Michaels or HBK or did WWF have them trademarked? If so I doubt he’d use the Hickenbottom name, wonder what his name would’ve been “Magic Mike” “Super Sean”?
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Jan 26, 2020 1:04:58 GMT -5
Would he be allowed to call himself Shawn Michaels or HBK or did WWF have them trademarked? If so I doubt he’d use the Hickenbottom name, wonder what his name would’ve been “Magic Mike” “Super Sean”? Shawn has the rights to his name.
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Post by Sir Woodrow on Jan 26, 2020 1:07:01 GMT -5
He wouldn't have died but Hogan would've killed him in other ways
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2020 2:08:36 GMT -5
"People think I'm adorable! But I am aware that I'm desirable! I am handsome and it makes women go crazy!"
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2020 3:09:14 GMT -5
"People think I'm adorable! But I am aware that I'm desirable! I am handsome and it makes women go crazy!" "Love Snap Child" Shawn. *loses his surname just like Cody.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2020 4:38:47 GMT -5
If HBK does go to WCW there's a fair chance that HHH goes with him, he wouldn't want to be the only kliq member left, he may have been a bit troubled about how stagnant the WWF midcard was pre AE and his previous reservations about WCW would have been alleviated by the kliq allies in the locker room (plus I think he was close to others in WCW such as Saturn and Regal)...hell, Shawn might have insisted on HHH coming along as he needed someone to help him get from A to B he was in such a state at the time.
So, no Chyna (or maybe WCW sign her, more likely WWF notice her size and sign her anyway, she ends up managing Goldust or something like that), no DX, no screwjob, no Mr McMahon character (it would come eventually but at a different time and maybe less well received), no SCSA vs Mr McMahon feud, no DX v Nation feud (arguably the making of The Rock), no Stephanie marriage (maybe staying single or meeting someone else takes her away from the business), HHH probably has a decent career Booker T or Steiner tier but nowhere near the heights he enjoyed in our timeline, no smark friendly NXT, no fruit bowls...probably a few other changes I haven't thought of too....
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,037
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 26, 2020 4:39:18 GMT -5
I know a lot of people are saying the Kliq would run roughshod, but honestly?
I think either one or both of Nash and Hall would side with Hogan, especially Nash. Shawn was their friend, obviously, but times change. Either Shawn would have to play ball, or he'd be outmaneuvered.
I actually am a little more curious who would fill the void in WWF. Depends on when he jumps ship, but probably Austin, Hunter, Foley, or the like, get pushed heavier earlier. I also could see someone jumping ship or being brought in internationally, since even if the WWF were having money problems, they'd still be losing one of their higher paid guys, freeing some cash up.
I don't think Triple H would jump even if Shawn does. He had been explicitly advised to go to WWF by veterans, ingratiated himself to Vince early, and also probably had a lot of time on his contract, anyway. He also stood to gain by being one of the most likely people to be pushed to fill the power vacuum, anyhow.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Jan 26, 2020 5:27:59 GMT -5
I know a lot of people are saying the Kliq would run roughshod, but honestly? I think either one or both of Nash and Hall would side with Hogan, especially Nash. Shawn was their friend, obviously, but times change. Either Shawn would have to play ball, or he'd be outmaneuvered. Nash is a realist, if he didn't try to throw his weight around to save Syxx and keep Hall employed, Shawn may fond himself in a similar boat.
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Post by David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 on Jan 26, 2020 6:29:34 GMT -5
I don't think Shawn would have died under WCW's watch, but the run would likely have killed him. He would find himself with no leverage over Bischoff, with no way out aside from being fired, and then he wouldn't be able to waltz back to the WWF without a lawsuit until the end of his deal. You'd have a miserable Shawn with Scott Hall by his side to drink and pop pills with, with little hope of getting above the US level while Hogan is in power, his demons getting bigger and bigger until WCW finally collapses, then he's unleashed onto the indy scene with a drug problem he can't shake and the WWE don't want him any more than they wanted Jake Roberts or Marty Jannetty. Unfortunately, this is the most likely scenario, I think.
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Post by johnnyk9 on Jan 26, 2020 7:50:57 GMT -5
Definitely would’ve jobbed to Hogan
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on Jan 26, 2020 7:51:28 GMT -5
The flip side of this to consider is: with Shawn gone, would Bret have stayed in the WWF? This would butterfly away Montreal, after all. So we’ve got a WWF going into 1998 with no DX, but Bret and the Hart Foundation still going, and Austin still on the rise, while Vince continues to try to steer the WWF product into the Attitude Era. Would Bret have remained a fixture of the main event, or would his disapproval of the Attitude Era product have caused problems? Bret likely would have lost the title to Austin at WMXIV, then either stay heel or go back to a face fighting off Neidhart, Owen, and Bulldog, maybe even allying himself with some other faces. As for the product, it probably would have gotten more hard-hitting, but less hyper-sexual. I think Bret would have been Vince's champ, remember before Montreal they had been pushing the storyline of the office hating Austin, so Austin vs Vince would have still happened. Austin finally beats Bret at Wrestlemania XIV, Bret takes a few months off to return at SummerSlam, Austin beats him (perhaps Vince sends somebody to help Bret and Bret refuses), Vince gets pissed at Bret, and Bret and Austin form an alliance. Bret spends the last few years of his career feuding with guys like Rock, Foley, and possibly Trips. If Trips had stayed, taken everything, he would have been in great with the boys and Vince would see him as dependable. And Owen would probably still be alive, because he would have been tied to Bret's story, and wouldn't have the Blue Blazer gimmick. Shawn would have been even more miserable in WCW. Nash would have sided with the money and Hogan. Shawn was great at politics, Hogan was the undisputed great. The locker room would have followed the money, and the fact that while people hated Hogan's politics, they liked the guy. Shawn was hated both ways. Shawn would have been very lonely in the locker room, and with no Vince around to protect him, he would have pissed off Regal, Meng, Barbarian, Goldberg, Steiner, or Bigelow and it wouldn't have ended well for him.
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Post by wildojinx on Jan 26, 2020 9:40:03 GMT -5
One other thing I realized, Shawn also had his wrestling academy around the late 90s/early 2000s which gave us Daniel Bryan and Brian Kendrick. While I assume both would eventually go to WWE, without Shawn training them their early careers may take different directions.
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cjh
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,569
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Post by cjh on Jan 26, 2020 10:00:51 GMT -5
Would he be allowed to call himself Shawn Michaels or HBK or did WWF have them trademarked? If so I doubt he’d use the Hickenbottom name, wonder what his name would’ve been “Magic Mike” “Super Sean”? Even if WWE trademarked "Shawn Michaels" for merchandise purposes, they wouldn't have been able to stop him from using it in WCW since he had been wrestling with that name since 1984.
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Post by jason1980s on Jan 26, 2020 13:54:50 GMT -5
I actually am a little more curious who would fill the void in WWF. Depends on when he jumps ship, but probably Austin, Hunter, Foley, or the like, get pushed heavier earlier. I also could see someone jumping ship or being brought in internationally, since even if the WWF were having money problems, they'd still be losing one of their higher paid guys, freeing some cash up. I don't see WWF hurting too much by him leaving around the time n w o formed. His title run wasn't too impressive even against some guys who could perform when necessary. There was no way Bulldog or Vader were getting much in on him. And by time someone really was able to hurt his run (Sid), the heel wound up becoming more popular probably because how much Shawn was disliked. By early 1997 he was on and off again until Fall 1997. Another thing is, if Shawn had been gone during 1996 and 1997 perhaps Bret would have stayed. He wasn't necessarily unhappy about Vince not being able to guarantee his money as he was with the disrespect from Shawn.
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Post by Hit Girl on Jan 26, 2020 14:05:17 GMT -5
Schiavone - "The Lovebreak Boy Michael Sean has joined the Wolfpac!"
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Post by kingoftheindies on Jan 26, 2020 19:37:19 GMT -5
It's hard to tell. You have to remember for as many issues as Scott Hall was dealing with you did have a lot of people trying to help him out. From what I gathered while Nash still liked to drink, he cut down on the drug use after Tristan was born while Hall's drug use got worse due to issues with his wife. Who knows if being around Nash would help Shawn sober up a bit (since from what I've heard Kev was the one that really helped Shawn straighten out eventually as well as Shawn's wife)
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Post by wildojinx on Jan 26, 2020 23:52:50 GMT -5
Even if they did an angle where HBK replaces Hogan as leader you just know Hogan would turn face and win over Shawn in the end. Hogan just had too much clout. I’m thinking Shawn would have basically taken up Bret’s spot in the upper midcard for 98 so that means feuds with Flair, Benoit & Booker rather than high profile matches with Hogan or Goldberg. Reading this post I just realized how odd it is that Booker and Shawn have never had a one-on-one match. They were both in WWE at the same time (of course, Booker spent most of 2002-03 as a face, and then got drafted to SD, so they may never have had a right time for a match).
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Post by Milkman Norm on Jan 27, 2020 0:10:11 GMT -5
When could he have gone? I know he was under contract after the Bret fight so Vince wasn't really worried about him leaving. Even if he had he shown up at the Nitro taping there is 0 chance he would have shown up on air, as Turner legal was gun shy after the Razor/Diesel IP lawsuit.
I missed the Vince releases him part. Which would never happen. But hypothetically... he goes and? I dunno. I kinda see it ending up like Bret in WCW tbh. They had way to many guys near the top of the card. I don't know about what would have happened in terms of his drug use.
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Glitch
King Koopa
Not Going To Die; Childs, we're goin' out to give Blair the test. If he tries to make it back here and we're not with him... burn him.
Watching you.
Posts: 12,714
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Post by Glitch on Jan 27, 2020 6:16:46 GMT -5
We've already established how Michaels wouldn't be a match for the Hulkster in backstage politics. But how much would Hogan be annoyed by him, and how much would he attack his career? Would hogan simply just keep him away from the world title, or would he send Michaels down the ladder to wrestle guys like Booker T or Raven? I'm just thinking how much of a nuisance would he be to Hogan. What level?
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