Wrestlers who passed by each other like ships in the night.

[The Blue Nova]

What wrestlers would you of liked to have seen go against each other in a promotion. but one of the wrestlers left before they could have a match or a feud that you would of liked to have seen.

1. Big Show and Vader (WCW WWF) Giant came in to WCW in the summer of 1995 and him and vader had one on screen confrontation never had a match or a proper feud because Vader was gone in September. Same in WWF Vader was gone in October and big show debut in febuary
2. Kurt Angle and CM punk ECW 2006 Would of loved to have seen them in a proper feud it would of been awesome Punk began wrestling house shows in june made his first appearance on tv in august and Angle was gone from the WWF within 2 weeks of Punks ECW Debut.
3. Rey Mysterio and Taka Michinoku WWF 2002. One of my ultimate dream matches two of my favorite junior heavyweights. Taka left in early 2002 where as rey Mysterio came in July. Would of been a great match
4. Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat WWF1991. They had legendary matches especially the famous series of matches in 1989. Its hard to remember that they were in WWF for a few months from August to November 1991 with steamboat leaving in November to go back to WCW. Would of been cool to have seen them in a match
5. Bam Bam Bigelow and Steve Austin. a match I would of loved to have seen its surprising that these men were never in the same territory at the same time. Bigelow Left in late november 1995 and Austin came in late december.
6 Sid vs Kane 1997 (Sid Left in August and Kane of course debut in October would of been a neat big man match to watch)

[Mozenrath]

I'd have really liked to see Hogan vs Cactus Jack, and think it would have been genuinely really interesting, but the two missed each other by a fairly slim margin.

[The Blue Nova]

Apr 14, 2022 23:58:41 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'd have really liked to see Hogan vs Cactus Jack, and think it would have been genuinely really interesting, but the two missed each other by a fairly slim margin.

Yes thats a good one!! same with cactus and savage!

[Mozenrath]

Apr 15, 2022 0:07:39 GMT -5 The Blue Nova said:

Apr 14, 2022 23:58:41 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I'd have really liked to see Hogan vs Cactus Jack, and think it would have been genuinely really interesting, but the two missed each other by a fairly slim margin.

Yes thats a good one!! same with cactus and savage!

I've weirdly never even considered vs Savage, and that'd be really good.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Mankind and The Ultimate Warrior. Mankind went to the WWF in April 1996. Warrior left the WWF in June 1996.

[MolotovMocktail]

Kurt Angle and Sylvester Terkay: they actually had real-life history where Angle beat Terkay in the NCAA wrestling finals.

[karl100589]

Considering what both of them achieved with the NWO, Hogan and Nash had a few months at most together in the WWF in 1993.

[DiBiase is Good]

Owen Hart and Curt Hennig

Yes, I know they did have a match and it was at a Wrestlemania nonetheless but Curt was still establishing himself as Mr. Perfect and The Blue Blazer was a jobber with a gimmick. Owen would be gone from the company just after the match and when he returned to the WWF, Hennig was in the middle of taking a year off with back issues. When Perfect came back, Owen was in a jobber team with Koko and then spent most of 1993 either injured or wrestling in Memphis.
At the end of 93, Owen started his feud with Bret and Hennig would disappear until Spring 94 before his back again caused him to take an even longer leave of absence from wrestling.
By the time Curt’s back had healed again it was 1997. Owen was a strong Heel at this time but Curt had signed with WCW. And of course by the time Hennig made his perfect return to the WWF in 2002, we all sadly know why he couldn’t wrestle Owen.

It just seems that injuries, heel/face alignments and general “right place, wrong time” factors would stop us getting that match between the two more experienced versions. 1989 Owen was spectacular to watch but I think the Owen we got a few years later after a few knee injuries had curbed the high-flying stuff a little and resulted in a style more similar to Bret was peak Owen. 1993 Hennig wasn’t peak Mr, Perfect (that would be 1990/1) but he was absolutely no slouch and more than capable of having great matches. A match with Owen would have been a nice accompaniment to his relationship with Bret, one of mutual respect but with the capability of getting heated.

[Deleted]

The two big ones are Goldberg debuting the night after Austin’s retirement and The Rocks last match as a full timer being the same PPV as HBKs comeback match.

Moxley and John Hennigan have to the best of my knowledge never had a TV match (surely they crossed paths on indies or developmental) despite being two of the most active wrestlers of the past 10 yrs or so. Their styles and characters would be a good foil for each other. Maybe if Jonny Dynamite ever gets a run it’ll happen.

[jimmyjackezekiel]

Ken Shamrock vs Kurt Angle? Shamrock was pretty much gone by the time Angle debueted for the Fedderation.

[thecrusherwi]

They weren’t ships in the night but the thought that Eddie Guerrero and Shawn Michaels were both active wrestlers in the same company at the same time for three years and they didn’t so much as interact almost makes me sick. The brand split was and forever will be one of the stupidest things they ever did. We didn’t get to see Michaels vs Guerrero. But thankfully we got to see Michaels vs HHH and Guerrero vs Angle or Benoit 37 times each.

[Spider2024]

Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin, 2002. I think there's a thread here about biggest missed opportunities for big time matchups and I'd put this at #1 on a list of those. You would think they'd have concrete plans to match the two up one-on-one. That's the kind of match you pencil in WITH A PERMANENT MARKER. My only guess is they were aiming to do the match at Summerslam that year, the 2nd biggest PPV on the schedule behind WrestleMania. That has to be the only reason why they didn't do it sooner. But then we all know what happened, Austin left, then came back but for only one last match because he had tons of lingering injuries, and then Hogan started getting a bit chippy himself, etc, etc.

Another ships passing instance I just thought of: Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino, 1986. I know they were both faces at the time and VKM very much did not want to book face-face matches back then. Still, it would've done a massive house show gate & they could always leave it untelevised (but still tape it for future home video release) meaning they could still both work face.

[Feyrhausen]

Apr 15, 2022 7:18:36 GMT -5 Spider2024 said:

Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin, 2002. I think there's a thread here about biggest missed opportunities for big time matchups and I'd put this at #1 on a list of those. You would think they'd have concrete plans to match the two up one-on-one. That's the kind of match you pencil in WITH A PERMANENT MARKER. My only guess is they were aiming to do the match at Summerslam that year, the 2nd biggest PPV on the schedule behind WrestleMania. That has to be the only reason why they didn't do it sooner. But then we all know what happened, Austin left, then came back but for only one last match because he had tons of lingering injuries, and then Hogan started getting a bit chippy himself, etc, etc.

Another ships passing instance I just thought of: Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino, 1986. I know they were both faces at the time and VKM very much did not want to book face-face matches back then. Still, it would've done a massive house show gate & they could always leave it untelevised (but still tape it for future home video release) meaning they could still both work face.

The big problem with Hogan.and Bruno would have been the impact on the house show business.

According to Bruno the reason Vince kept coaxing him out of retirement was the Northeast house show loop. While Vince spent tons of cash trying to expand nationally he was relying on the income from the old loop. Hogan was great for the national work as he was larger than life and exciting. But he was not suited to the house show loop where you go to the same towns every 2 weeks. Bringing in Bruno was able to boost those gates.

So if Bruno is accurate on this then a Hogan vs Bruno match could have negatively affected the house show business. It could have killed Brunos drawing power on those house shows when it was needed most.

But post Mania in 1986 as you suggest this may not have been a factor anymore.

[wildojinx]

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Hogan or Warrior. Bigelow came back as a heel in 1992, but Warrior was gone a week or so after he returned, and Hogan left in the summer of 1993 (and was only wrestling Money Inc or Yoko at that time). They could have faced off sometime in 1999 WCW (Hogan turned face at Uncensored 99), but never even interacted.

[msc]

Not so much ships passing, but I realised the other day that Sheamus and Balor have seemingly never wrestled despite being in the same company for years. I really want to see that one now.

Bam Bam Bigelow left the WWF just before a bunch of interesting new match ups arrived - Foley, Rock, Austin, etc. Owen's death caused a vast number of them - hell, Jericho called the Owen match which never happened his dream match.

Another is Umaga/Big Show. Umaga debuted with Big Show in ECW, then Big Show took time off as Umaga got into his groove, then shortly after Big Show returned Umaga got injured.

Oddly Shane Douglas (one of Mick Foley's best friends) leaving the WWF just before Mick Foley signed for them was probably a great boost to Foley's career!

Oh and since both men have brought it up in the last 20 years - DDP v The Rock.

[Instant Classic]

AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes but now it’s possible.

[wildojinx]

Vader and Diesel in the WWF. Vader debuted at Rumble 96, and Diesel left at the end of May, but the two never had a match (and both were heels by the time Diesel left, so a match would have been unlikely anyway).

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

There was a very brief window of time where Andre the Giant and The Undertaker were in the WWF together. Even a Funeral Parlor segment would have been something, wheel out a giant-sized coffin and have Warrior/Hogan come out to back up Andre.

[4real]

I know he faced Isaac Yankem but interested to see what Bret Hart could do with Kane. Only in the company for a month together in 97 before Bret left for WCW.

[Aceorton]

Warrior's 1996 return fell squarely within Jake's 1996 return. Would have been interesting to call back to the unresolved TRUST ME/"room full of snakes" business from 1991 -- although if Jake is to be believed (and he usually shouldn't be), he loathed Warrior for costing him the big-money feud. Did they simply avoid each other backstage in '96? In the DSOTR episode on Warrior, Jake made it seem like he didn't see Warrior again till the Hall of Fame inductions, which can't possibly be true.