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Post by sungod2020 on Jun 29, 2020 20:15:36 GMT -5
I've seen many discussions on here(and other message boards) about what might've happened if that botched piledriver Owen Hart did to him at Summerslam 97 could've ended his career right then and there, and while it's fortunate for him and the WWF's sake he was able to continue after months of recovery, it would've been a devastating if it hadn't. The Texas Rattlesnake would've gone down as the Magnum T.A. of the 1990s, a case of "what could've been."
However, lets say he was able to take the piledriver correctly, how much further do you think he could've gone? Obviously he brought the World Wrestling Federation to new heights and was the driving force behind their success. There was also an issue with his knees, but you can say the injured neck shortened his career even further.
How would a healthy Austin's career have gone? After Summerslam, I could see him continue his feud with Owen Hart(just like IRL) and maybe trade the IC belt with him leading to the conclusion being at Survivor Series and then his career would mostly be the same as before(Royal Rumble win, winning the WWF championship at Wrestlemania).
One thing I can see different though is him not taking that one year hiatus from 1999 to 2000. His neck from that stinger Owen gave him started acting up again in late 99 and as a way to write him out via storyline, he was ran over by a car(Rikishi being the driver), missing the end of 99 and most of 2000. So that would leave the majority of 2000 to fill. How do you think he would've be booked during that time?
Feud with Triple H some more? How about feuding with The Radicalz or Kurt Angle? Maybe a heel turn sooner to freshen up his character? What about by the time late 2000/2001 hit? How would his character be kept fresh?
Given our timeline, I feel they've gotten all the mileage out of him they needed, especially by 2002 when his career was winding down. It's a good thing he took the hiatus he did and then eventually have that one last match with longtime rival The Rock at Wrestlemania XIX because I can't envision how much longer his career/character could go past 2002, even by then they were running out of ideas of what to do with him(such as his ill-fated feud with Ric Flair to recreate the Austin/McMahon magic).
So how would a healthy Austin go creatively speaking? Only think I can possibly think of after 2003 is he has his occasional big money matches on PPV. Maybe against stars such as John Cena and CM Punk(that would write itself).
Thoughts?
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Post by ChitownKnight on Jun 29, 2020 20:39:36 GMT -5
I could of seen him having somewhat of a Cena type run. Wind down in 2002, maybe win a world title in 2003, then have a final world title run as a heel in 04-05 before passing the torch to Cena. From
There on out he’d be a part timer
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Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Jun 29, 2020 21:26:09 GMT -5
The sad thing is, he was probably reaching the end of his pop culture relevance and megastardom at the point where he hung it up. If he had stuck around, he would have kept on keeping on, getting increasingly stale - maybe he would have been more able than everyone else to stand up to Vince and counteract Triple H's politicking, and maybe that would have improved the Reign of Terror years, but...yeah, I feel like he would have remained a WWE main eventer until his body gave out, but his legacy would have been increasingly tarnished by staying on top past his welcome.
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mcstoklasa
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Post by mcstoklasa on Jun 29, 2020 21:27:23 GMT -5
Problem is it benefited his career character and popularity wise (if you think about it), in the long run. He was out and inactive for months which meant all he could do was cut awesome promos and stun mfers including of course Vince. It basically helped start the Vince feud.
Who knows if it would have gone as well if he never got hurt. Obviously I'd prefer if he didn't get hurt
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mcstoklasa
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Post by mcstoklasa on Jun 29, 2020 21:28:27 GMT -5
I could of seen him having somewhat of a Cena type run. Wind down in 2002, maybe win a world title in 2003, then have a final world title run as a heel in 04-05 before passing the torch to Cena. From There on out he’d be a part timer If he didn't get hurt I think he could have gone to at least 2008 or a bit later as Shawn and Taker were still going then at the same age |
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Post by sungod2020 on Jun 29, 2020 22:02:13 GMT -5
Problem is it benefited his career character and popularity wise (if you think about it), in the long run. He was out and inactive for months which meant all he could do was cut awesome promos and stun mfers including of course Vince. It basically helped start the Vince feud. Who knows if it would have gone as well if he never got hurt. Obviously I'd prefer if he didn't get hurt If not when it happened, he still could’ve feuded with Vince. Mind you the Mr. McMahon character was born out of the Montreal Screwjob and the Austin/McMahon feud didn’t get underway until just before Wrestlemania XIV, 6 months after he gave him his first stunner. You’re right about Austin’s three month hiatus not slowing down(if anything helping) his popularity, but I still feel his popularity would’ve risen at the same speed regardless of wheather or not he got injured. Good call on the poster who mentioned his forced retirement prevented him from staying way past his welcome. Like The Undertaker and many others, him constantly going and going would’ve been sad to watch. |
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Post by spagett on Jun 30, 2020 3:29:39 GMT -5
I think he'd have turned heel earlier on.
If you go back and watch the shows, by late 99 he's still really really over but there are signs that Rock was more popular. There's a Rock promo where he mentions Austin and Austins name gets booed and they have a face to face confrontation the night after No Mercy 99 and the crowd are clearly behind Rock. So I think without needing the neck surgery and the time off he turns heel late 99 and Wrestlemania 2000 is heel Austin vs face Rock for the title.
And his heel turn may have worked out better if it had happened then who knows.
As others have mentioned though, as sad as it was and as shitty for him as it was Austin having to retire early just added to his legacy. He never went out there and embarrassed himself in the ring with shitty matches, he wasn't getting stale and boring. His career at the top was so short when you look back but it just makes him look even more incredible that he packed so many memorable moments in.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jun 30, 2020 4:32:00 GMT -5
The Rock would still equaled him or surpassed him in popularity
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Post by Andee9001 on Jun 30, 2020 5:04:39 GMT -5
He and Rock would've traded being the top guy. Austin may very well have needed to take time off for nagging injuries at some point anyway and The Rock was too good and too popular to play second fiddle. In terms of how it would play out im going under the impression he stays happy and doesn't walk out in 2002. After Rock left I could see him staying top guy on Raw in 2002 as World Champion feuding with Triple H, Shawn and getting the dream match with Goldberg and maybe the Brock match would have happened. I reckon he would have eventually gotten Cena stale and seeing as how his heel turns worked out im sure they would have been apprehensive about turning him again. As for how long he'd have continued for it depends on how long his body had left. Also begs the question do Cena and Batista rise as quickly? Does Benoit get his World title reign? Would be a cool what if.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2020 5:58:44 GMT -5
Has Stone Cold talked about the cinematic matches? If he ever would do one, I think it might just be the greatest wrestling contest so far. So perfect for stuff like that, hell, give me AJ vs. Austin at next 'Mania!
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Post by Susan "Poison" Candy on Jun 30, 2020 17:47:47 GMT -5
Has Stone Cold talked about the cinematic matches? If he ever would do one, I think it might just be the greatest wrestling contest so far. So perfect for stuff like that, hell, give me AJ vs. Austin at next 'Mania! AJ vs Austin: Bar Room Brawl |
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mattyy
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Post by mattyy on Jun 30, 2020 17:57:36 GMT -5
probably would have retired officially at WrestleMania 25. I could see him and Triple H trading the World Heavyweight title in 2003. Probably would have taken a break for a couple months toward the end of 2004, and coming back in 2005 at 'Mania. Probably would have gone to SmackDown in late 2005/2006.
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repomark
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Post by repomark on Jul 1, 2020 12:26:05 GMT -5
It is an intriguing what if. I think the main event of Wrestlemania 2000 definitely changes - perhaps Triple H v Austin one on one, or perhaps triple threat with Rock involved. The question is does he turn heel sooner (due to the rise of the Rock) or not at all?
The bigger excitement would be all the feuds we didn’t get but could have if he had been able to work a bit longer. Orton and Cena would be excellent opponents for him, as would Lesnar. If he lasts a bit longer still then you have the thought of feuds with CM Punk, Batista and main event Edge. You could also have done another feud with HBK so they could have got the classic mania match they were deprived due to Shawn’s back at WM14, and had Austin challenge the streak once it became a proper thing.
Ah what if. But as has been said, possibly his legacy has benefitted from not being able to stay beyond his welcome.
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Post by cornettesracket on Jul 2, 2020 11:54:41 GMT -5
It wasn't on Austin to take the piledriver correctly, it was on Owen hart to do it in a way that he could do it safely. Owen was the one holding Austin so it was on Owen to hold him right. Everything I've even seen of Owen hart wrestle shows he was clearly a very safe worker in the ring so I don't know why he did the piledriver the way he did it, when several people have said they hadn't seen Owen so that variation of the move.
Anyway, I think if the injury hadn't of happened then Austin wouldn't have had to take the time off for surgery so that would changed the main event scene, but by 2002 Austin has been wrestling the best part of 15 years so without the neck injury he may have kept going a bit longer but not much longer imo.
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Post by J. Hova on Jul 3, 2020 0:44:22 GMT -5
His knees were pretty well shot by about 2000, right?
I swear I've seen Owen deliver that move prior to the SS botch, but it's absolutely on him to deliver the move safely. It absolutely helped his character but I don't think it changes his trajectory at WM14. I think he probably hangs it up at WM20 or shortly thereafter, but he does get a proper sendoff, build, etc. and can come back and do his occasional stuff and maybe get a little more physically involved.
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Post by Cvslfc123 on Jul 3, 2020 3:49:12 GMT -5
So many matches he could have done.
John Cena
Randy Orton
CM Punk
One more match with a heel HBK looking to get revenge for WrestleMania 14
Brock Lesnar
Batista
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Post by sungod2020 on Jul 3, 2020 9:56:37 GMT -5
To clarify, yes it was on Owen to deliver the move safely. I should've said "what if the move(not Austin taking it) was done correctly. or "Owen delivered it correctly." Either way, taking it correctly could've meant either party was or wasn't at fault, but I do apologize for the wording.
Also, were there any reports how the match would've ended if it wasn't for that botched piledriver? Other than Austin giving Owen the stunner and winning the IC belt?
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Post by Jaws the Shark on Jul 3, 2020 10:09:03 GMT -5
His knees were pretty well shot by about 2000, right? Came in to say this. He had bad knees from before wrestling and was wearing those braces as early as 1997, even if he hadn't broken his neck his knees would've worn out soon after. He might've lasted until 2005 or 2006, and we might have seen a couple of dream matches involving him that never happened, but he wasn't going to have gone on for much longer. It's also worth factoring in his personal issues around the early 2000s, I think this was someone at the end of his tether mentally and emotionally probably due in no small part to the grind of being a wrestler, so I think his getting out when he did might have been due to more than just the physical toll it was taking on him. |
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Post by cornettesracket on Jul 3, 2020 10:51:57 GMT -5
Just to add I think him going home in 2002 probably helped him get to 2003. I say that because I rewatched 2002 raws from before the time he left and no he wasn't sloppy as such in the ring but there were signs he wasn't as good as he had been. That imo was his neck injury, the issue with his knees and as he's admitted himself, that he was running fairly hard and burning the candle at both ends catching up with him.
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Post by sungod2020 on Jul 3, 2020 12:45:57 GMT -5
Just to add I think him going home in 2002 probably helped him get to 2003. I say that because I rewatched 2002 raws from before the time he left and no he wasn't sloppy as such in the ring but there were signs he wasn't as good as he had been. That imo was his neck injury, the issue with his knees and as he's admitted himself, that he was running fairly hard and burning the candle at both ends catching up with him. In all fairness, he had good to great matches throughout 2001, so up until that time, he could still go. The problem is, once 2002 hit, he was drained up, both physically and emotionally and the booking reflected that, which lead to his walk out. He was so out of place in 2002. Sure, he still had the pop from the audience, but new stars(Angle, RVD, Booker T, Jericho, Lesnar just to name a few) were on the rise and he was put on the backseat. The straw that broke the camel's back was him being told to job to Brock Lesnar in a KOTR qualifying match on RAW. I support his walk out and he needed that hiatus, so he was able to come back for that one last match with longtime rival The Rock at Wrestlemania XIX. If the future Hall of Famer didn't take that break, I couldn't see him making it to then, so that time off was well needed, and as others mentioned help with his legacy. Glad he wasn't one of those guys who kept coming back for a quick payday and embarass himself in the process. So in a sence, that neck injury actually did him a favor of protecting his aura. |
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