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Post by sungod2020 on Nov 12, 2022 0:16:49 GMT -5
As we all know, WWE brought in Big Poppa Pump in late fall of 2002 to much fanfare. After making short work of Chris Nowinski and Matt Hardy at Survivor Series after they were arguing wheather the New York crowd were stupid or losers(then they agreed they were lupid) the bidding war between RAW and Smackdown was on.
After weeks of each GM(Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon) trying to sign him, The Big Bad Booty Daddy signed with the red brand after Stephanie rebuffed his advances. He was immediately placed into a feud with World Heavyweight Champion Triple H. After getting the better of the game in non-wrestling bouts(arm wrestling, posedowns etc etc), it was time for Freakzilla to put up or shut up and see if he could best him in a wrestling contest.
At the Royal Rumble, they had an ill-received and plodding match which consisted of Steiner constantly suplexing him. the match ended when Triple H attacked him with a sledgehammer, leading to a DQ. They had a rematch at No Way Out the next month, which was almost as bad, where Triple H won. After that, the University of Michigan alumnus dropped down the card.
How hard did he drop down you ask? Well he didn't make it to Wrestlemania. There wasn't even a storyline(such as an injury) to write him off either. The E just didn't care to give out an explanation for his absence, that's how bad they given up on him. He did appear on RAW the next night though to remind everyone he was employed. He squashed Chris Nowinski.
With that being said, let's say you had to come up with an excuse to give Scotty Boy a pay day on the biggest show of the year. How would you do it without changing anything that happened prior? Do you put him in a quickie tag team match? Do you copy and paste the same match he had with Nowinski the following night on RAW and put it on the main show? Maybe as a storyline excuse, he can briefly be drafted to Smackdown and fill in for Nathan Jones as he teams with The Undertaker to defeat Albert and Big Show. In fact, he can be tagged in at the end and make quick work of the two and get the pinfall, hence, saving Undertaker's streak.
Anything, basically. Love to hear suggestions.
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Nosnorb
El Dandy
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Post by Nosnorb on Nov 12, 2022 0:38:39 GMT -5
I would have him get the surgery he should have had to fix his foot, which would probably mean he doesn't get on the WM card at all. That injury was the main reason he stank the joint out during that time. Dude would probably have been just as bad on Smackdown as he was on Raw.
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CMWaters
Ozymandius
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Post by CMWaters on Nov 12, 2022 1:37:06 GMT -5
Even if they weren't that big a thing yet: Brand Warfare, Steiner vs. Cena.
Warms up the young heel Cena for his title match vs. Lesnar in the next few months.
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Post by Andee9001 on Nov 12, 2022 2:37:13 GMT -5
Have him be the one to face Triple H.
Yeah the first 2 matches sucked but surely the third time would've been the charm.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,959
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Post by chazraps on Nov 12, 2022 2:51:47 GMT -5
I would have moved the Nowinski-Steiner debate up a month, had it play out exactly as it did, then had a frustrated Scott Steiner hire a re-debuting Rico as his new image consultant to make him more likable. Nowinski continues to taunt him and says it will never work and nothing will make him likable. We have a few weeks of three unique charismatic mic workers going back and forth and finally at Mania we have Steiner with Rico in his corner defeat Nowinski. Maybe we throw this on Sunday Night Heat, it at least gives him something to do that day.
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4real
Wade Wilson
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Post by 4real on Nov 12, 2022 4:50:12 GMT -5
Was Batista injured at this point? If not maybe do Steiner v Batista.
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Feyrhausen
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Post by Feyrhausen on Nov 12, 2022 5:33:20 GMT -5
Was Batista injured at this point? If not maybe do Steiner v Batista. Yes. Almost immediately after forming Evolution Orton and Batista were injured at a house show.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Nov 12, 2022 5:47:14 GMT -5
Was Batista injured at this point? If not maybe do Steiner v Batista. Yes. Almost immediately after forming Evolution Orton and Batista were injured at a house show. Yeah, it startled me as I'm going through 2003 that they actually form Evolution in the feud with Steiner, like just before No Way Out, and then by the time of WrestleMania a month later both Orton (who had only just come back from an injury, the one that led to the RNN vignettes) and Batista are out of commission. And Batista's out a long time, like I'm into September and he's STILL out.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Nov 12, 2022 6:14:44 GMT -5
As mentioned if Batista wasn't out I think they would've done him against Steiner. Would've been interesting how that would've played out if that was the plan. They had high hopes for Batista but hadn't really strapped the rocket to him yet and I don't think they had completely given up on Steiner yet so I don't think a win for Big Dave would've been as much of a lock as you would think.
As for the challenge it's hard to say as when it comes to heel opponents on Raw there just wasn't a lot of options. Batista and Orton were both hurt, Nowinski was a joke, 3 Minute Warning had been jobbed out, Test was still a face. I guess maybe Rodney Mack could've been an option but they were still protecting him and pushing the five minute white boy challenge so they probably wouldn't want to feed him to Steiner but at the same time didn't value him enough to beat Steiner who even after the terrible Triple H matches was still an investment I think they wanted to make something out of.
If I was booking it I think I would've just had him in Booker T's corner against Triple H to neutralize Flair. Plays off him and Booker's WCW history as well as him just feuding with Triple H. Then you can have him turn on Booker and cost him the match to turn heel which would've protected Booker in defeat instead Hunter pinning him clean with the pedigree while taking a minute to cover him.
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Feyrhausen
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Post by Feyrhausen on Nov 12, 2022 6:47:23 GMT -5
Yes. Almost immediately after forming Evolution Orton and Batista were injured at a house show. Yeah, it startled me as I'm going through 2003 that they actually form Evolution in the feud with Steiner, like just before No Way Out, and then by the time of WrestleMania a month later both Orton (who had only just come back from an injury, the one that led to the RNN vignettes) and Batista are out of commission. And Batista's out a long time, like I'm into September and he's STILL out. If I recall they formed right before No Way Out, helped H win there, then were injured the next weekend.
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tirtefaa
Unicron
If you wanna know the truth, you gotta dig up Johnny Booth.
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Post by tirtefaa on Nov 12, 2022 9:09:35 GMT -5
Steiner vs. Flair
Steiner wins in 45 seconds
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Post by Celexa Bliss 54 on Nov 12, 2022 9:52:16 GMT -5
A lot of people missed Mania that year, who would've thought would be on the show. It was fine. Mania wasn't a ten hour supercard yet and Steiner wasn't doing anything notable enough to warrant a spot.
If you HAD to get him on the card, though? Why not have him be a surprise replacement for Nathan Jones as Undertaker's partner? Does it save that match? Hell no. But it was already a dumpster fire, so might as well just lean into it lol
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Post by Milkman Norm on Nov 12, 2022 10:44:46 GMT -5
I would book him to job in a "Loser Most Give Rational Promo's With No Vocal Gaffs Match"
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Nov 12, 2022 11:06:34 GMT -5
Well Goldberg had signed and debuted the following night and they had history so maybe something with them. Not a match but like Steiner cutting a heel turn promo saying he came in to be a top guy and all you dumb fans booed me and now I'm not even on the WM card. He says he's not leaving the ring and is taking the show hostage. Maybe he beats up a bunch of security and the announcers are worried about how the PPV is going to continue. Then Goldberg's music hits for a big WM debut instead of on TV. Spear. Jackhammer. And Hopefully a huge WM moment and debut pop because I always felt simply showing a video package at WM then debuting the next night on Raw was a bit underwhelming. I'd rather debut him in front of the 50,000+ crowd at WM.
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Post by sungod2020 on Nov 12, 2022 13:33:45 GMT -5
As mentioned if Batista wasn't out I think they would've done him against Steiner. Would've been interesting how that would've played out if that was the plan. They had high hopes for Batista but hadn't really strapped the rocket to him yet and I don't think they had completely given up on Steiner yet so I don't think a win for Big Dave would've been as much of a lock as you would think. As for the challenge it's hard to say as when it comes to heel opponents on Raw there just wasn't a lot of options. Batista and Orton were both hurt, Nowinski was a joke, 3 Minute Warning had been jobbed out, Test was still a face. I guess maybe Rodney Mack could've been an option but they were still protecting him and pushing the five minute white boy challenge so they probably wouldn't want to feed him to Steiner but at the same time didn't value him enough to beat Steiner who even after the terrible Triple H matches was still an investment I think they wanted to make something out of. If I was booking it I think I would've just had him in Booker T's corner against Triple H to neutralize Flair. Plays off him and Booker's WCW history as well as him just feuding with Triple H. Then you can have him turn on Booker and cost him the match to turn heel which would've protected Booker in defeat instead Hunter pinning him clean with the pedigree while taking a minute to cover him. You could have him make a heel turn(which he's best suited for anyway). The thing is, who on the (RAW) roster would be a suitable opponent for him?
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Nov 12, 2022 14:44:17 GMT -5
As mentioned if Batista wasn't out I think they would've done him against Steiner. Would've been interesting how that would've played out if that was the plan. They had high hopes for Batista but hadn't really strapped the rocket to him yet and I don't think they had completely given up on Steiner yet so I don't think a win for Big Dave would've been as much of a lock as you would think. As for the challenge it's hard to say as when it comes to heel opponents on Raw there just wasn't a lot of options. Batista and Orton were both hurt, Nowinski was a joke, 3 Minute Warning had been jobbed out, Test was still a face. I guess maybe Rodney Mack could've been an option but they were still protecting him and pushing the five minute white boy challenge so they probably wouldn't want to feed him to Steiner but at the same time didn't value him enough to beat Steiner who even after the terrible Triple H matches was still an investment I think they wanted to make something out of. If I was booking it I think I would've just had him in Booker T's corner against Triple H to neutralize Flair. Plays off him and Booker's WCW history as well as him just feuding with Triple H. Then you can have him turn on Booker and cost him the match to turn heel which would've protected Booker in defeat instead Hunter pinning him clean with the pedigree while taking a minute to cover him. You could have him make a heel turn(which he's best suited for anyway). The thing is, who on the (RAW) roster would be a suitable opponent for him? I guess you could still do the Test feud but just with the alignments reversed. Big Poppa Pump was a womanizer so you could still have him try to take Stacy from him but in a more heelish way and her not wanting anything to do with him with Test defending her honor. However like Steiner, Test was another guy who worked much better as a heel. Jeff Hardy was still around although not for much longer. At the time they were teasing a Hardy and Trish Stratus romance so you could do the same idea I just said with the Test feud but just with Hardy in Test's spot and Trish in Stacy's. Then you could have Steiner squash him on his way out. Hardy was more over then Test so I think he would probably be more a preferable option in that Steiner would get more heel heat for beating him.
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Nosnorb
El Dandy
Nachos and Fraggle Rock are TIMELESS.
Posts: 7,685
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Post by Nosnorb on Nov 12, 2022 16:24:40 GMT -5
If I was booking it I think I would've just had him in Booker T's corner against Triple H to neutralize Flair. Plays off him and Booker's WCW history as well as him just feuding with Triple H. Then you can have him turn on Booker and cost him the match to turn heel which would've protected Booker in defeat instead Hunter pinning him clean with the pedigree while taking a minute to cover him. Having Steiner cost Booker the match would have been better than what happened, but not by much. After those promos by Trips, Booker T needed to walk out of Wrestlemania the champion. Have Steiner turn on Booker somewhere further down the line.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Nov 12, 2022 16:30:41 GMT -5
If I was booking it I think I would've just had him in Booker T's corner against Triple H to neutralize Flair. Plays off him and Booker's WCW history as well as him just feuding with Triple H. Then you can have him turn on Booker and cost him the match to turn heel which would've protected Booker in defeat instead Hunter pinning him clean with the pedigree while taking a minute to cover him. Having Steiner cost Booker the match would have been better than what happened, but not by much. After those promos by Trips, Booker T needed to walk out of Wrestlemania the champion. Have Steiner turn on Booker somewhere further down the line. When it comes to those Triple H promos I would've never gone down that road to begin with. However since they did then yes Booker should've won. Even if it meant then just dropping it right back to Hunter at Backlash. I've never understood when bookers go for racist heat. Not only is it incredibly low class but it's not even effective. It doesn't make you hate the heel. It just one of those things that makes you either angry or very uncomfortable and just makes you not want to watch it.
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Post by sungod2020 on Nov 12, 2022 16:52:17 GMT -5
Having Steiner cost Booker the match would have been better than what happened, but not by much. After those promos by Trips, Booker T needed to walk out of Wrestlemania the champion. Have Steiner turn on Booker somewhere further down the line. When it comes to those Triple H promos I would've never gone down that road to begin with. However since they did then yes Booker should've won. Even if it meant then just dropping it right back to Hunter at Backlash. I've never understood when bookers go for racist heat. Not only is it incredibly low class but it's not even effective. It doesn't make you hate the heel. It just one of those things that makes you either angry or very uncomfortable and just makes you not want to watch it. It definitely worked in the olden days where racism was far more common. Hell, Fritz Von Erich played a nazi for crying out loud! But you're right, it had no place in 2003. Also, while Triple H's stranglehold on the World Heavyweight Championship from when he was awarded the belt to Wrestlemania 21 was ill received today(and it was at the time as well), it did help establish credibility for the big gold belt, which was most certainly needed by having an established name like himself hold it for long stretches of time. Could it have been booked better during that time? Absolutely. Could others have flirted with it? Rob Van Dam and Booker T say hi. But it did serve it's purpose in the long run, and even helped established Batista once he put an end to the Reign of Terror, so it's not like it was completely meaningless. Technically it was no different than what the NWA did 20 years prior by having an established heel champion being chased by popular babyfaces, unless somebody can prove to me otherwise.
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fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
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Post by fw91 on Nov 12, 2022 23:27:04 GMT -5
Christian wasn't on the card was he?
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