What would WWE history look like if...

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

...they went with the hot hand EVERY time? Called that audible, took the gamble, all that stuff?



Seriously, though... I don't mean this within the context of it being better (some of it would be implied), nor about how it would've actually been bad... I just want to lay out all these guys that got flashes of massive crowd support or were really entertaining, however brief, just to see what the timelines would look like. How hyperactive and chaotic would it look? How many of these would have piled up on each other and have the domino effect of preventing others from happening?

The one I always come back to in this situation is heel R-Truth in 2011. Dude was on that shit when he turned, so let's take the chance and have him beat John Cena for the title at Capitol Punishment. AND NEWWWWW and things of that nature. HOWEVER... What does CM Punk cut his pipebomb promo on if it isn't the face of the machine Big Match John holding the gold? He'd look like a weirdo giving out about R-Truth being champion, and that's saying something given the latter has created imaginary children in his mind at this point. Does it even have the same emotional resonance on Cena if he's not the champion?

So who else is coming out hot after Capitol Punishment having just turned babyface on The Miz? Bah God, is that the shockingly awesome music of ALEX RILEY? What do you say, Chicago, one time with feeling, your main event of Money In The Bank 2011, R-Truth versus Alex Riley!

*crickets*

And so on.

You guys want to try this? Find one guy or girl that was hot at a specific time and they didn't go with it, and tell the class how you take them to the top. But, you also have to tell us what DOESN'T happen as a result. Becky Lynch probably should've won the women's title as a babyface at SummerSlam 2018, but does the fanbase still rally around and take her to the WrestleMania main event if she does?

(Just trying to bring a bit of levity in a rough day)

[repomark]

I always wonder if Daniel Bryan had of just won the Royal Rumble in 2014 then gone on to win the title if that would have made his win at WM30 less special. He possibly doesn’t wrestle Triple H in the banger of an opener, he likely wrestles Randy Orton one on one. Batista possibly stays face, then we don’t get the Evolution v Shield matches following mania that were so great.

Taking that to an even further extreme, does the Shield breakup happen when it did or would that mean they had a longer face run as a result?

[Lizuka #BLM]

Apr 4, 2023 7:47:26 GMT -5 repomark said:

I always wonder if Daniel Bryan had of just won the Royal Rumble in 2014 then gone on to win the title if that would have made his win at WM30 less special. He possibly doesn’t wrestle Triple H in the banger of an opener, he likely wrestles Randy Orton one on one. Batista possibly stays face, then we don’t get the Evolution v Shield matches following mania that were so great.

Taking that to an even further extreme, does the Shield breakup happen when it did or would that mean they had a longer face run as a result?

The Shield breakup would've likely happened sooner if anything. They were heavily teasing it before Mania then abruptly walked it back a few weeks before the show.

[thecrusherwi]

What if they would've called an audible after Roman Reigns was over in the 2014 Royal Rumble, had him win, had him win the title in 2014 with Daniel Bryan's help at Wrestlemania and then push him the next 9 years as a worthy babyface instead of a lucky babyface/cheating heel? They probably would have a John Cena-level babyface by now who most people are happy to see win every PPV main event.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Apr 4, 2023 7:50:25 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

What if they would've called an audible after Roman Reigns was over in the 2014 Royal Rumble, had him win, had him win the title in 2014 with Daniel Bryan's help at Wrestlemania and then push him the next 9 years as a worthy babyface instead of a lucky babyface/cheating heel? They probably would have a John Cena-level babyface by now who most people are happy to see win every PPV main event.

If anything that likely would have hurt him significantly more in the long run. He was super over that night because people liked the Shield, hated Batista, and he was made to look like a million bucks in that match, but it was only like a month later that he had an utterly horrendous singles match with Bray on Raw that was so bad it seemed to be what ultimately made them delay the Shield breakup. Throwing the dude into the deep water of the main event scene at that point probably would've mostly just made people rapidly stop caring about him.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Apr 4, 2023 7:47:26 GMT -5 repomark said:

I always wonder if Daniel Bryan had of just won the Royal Rumble in 2014 then gone on to win the title if that would have made his win at WM30 less special. He possibly doesn’t wrestle Triple H in the banger of an opener, he likely wrestles Randy Orton one on one. Batista possibly stays face, then we don’t get the Evolution v Shield matches following mania that were so great.

Taking that to an even further extreme, does the Shield breakup happen when it did or would that mean they had a longer face run as a result?

My approach for that is, if they truly went with the hot hand, he wouldn’t have been in that Royal Rumble anyway because he would’ve still been champion from winning it at the previous SummerSlam. Thus, who’s the next hottest hand to go with as a potential challenger for Bryan? Ironically enough, at the time, it could’ve very well been Cody Rhodes, who wasn’t far removed off those series of awesome matches with The Shield.

[clifford]

We'd have gotten KO vs Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 35 if Kofimania hadn't caught on, correct? That actually would've been cool, but they went with the much better option thankfully.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Apr 4, 2023 7:58:39 GMT -5 clifford said:

We'd have gotten KO vs Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 35 if Kofimania hadn't caught on, correct? That actually would've been cool, but they went with the much better option thankfully.

That’s when they kinda did go with it for a few months. If we want to bring up a hypothetical involving Kingston, how about if they actually committed to him properly in late 2009?

[canceled4truth]

I was at Capitol Punishment 2011 and I would've lost my tiny mind

[Lizuka #BLM]

Apr 4, 2023 7:58:39 GMT -5 clifford said:

We'd have gotten KO vs Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 35 if Kofimania hadn't caught on, correct? That actually would've been cool, but they went with the much better option thankfully.

That definitely ended up being the plan at some point but I remember seeing the theory that before that they were wanting to debut Kenny Omega in that capacity and it really makes a lot of sense. There were rumors swirling around for a good while it was someone not on the roster they were wanting to challenge Bryan, he'd just left NJPW, the match would've basically sold itself just from having Kenny in the ring a couple of times in the build to show off, and there was really nobody on the horizon on SmackDown really being positioned as a viable challenger. Don't think there was ever any actual confirmation of that but it definitely logically tracks.

[clifford]

Apr 4, 2023 8:00:08 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Apr 4, 2023 7:58:39 GMT -5 clifford said:

We'd have gotten KO vs Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 35 if Kofimania hadn't caught on, correct? That actually would've been cool, but they went with the much better option thankfully.

That’s when they kinda did go with it for a few months. If we want to bring up a hypothetical involving Kingston, how about if they actually committed to him properly in late 2009?

Ooooo great shout. He was a 'STOOPID, STOOPID' away from becoming an organically over main event star in late 2009. (sorry, misread the thread title with my initial post)

Apr 4, 2023 8:02:51 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Apr 4, 2023 7:58:39 GMT -5 clifford said:

We'd have gotten KO vs Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 35 if Kofimania hadn't caught on, correct? That actually would've been cool, but they went with the much better option thankfully.

That definitely ended up being the plan at some point but I remember seeing the theory that before that they were wanting to debut Kenny Omega in that capacity and it really makes a lot of sense. There were rumors swirling around for a good while it was someone not on the roster they were wanting to challenge Bryan, he'd just left NJPW, the match would've basically sold itself just from having Kenny in the ring a couple of times in the build to show off, and there was really nobody on the horizon on SmackDown really being positioned as a viable challenger. Don't think there was ever any actual confirmation of that but it definitely logically tracks.

Now that's a 'divergent timeline' moment if ever there was one. Imagine if Kenny jumped to WWE early 2019 instead of help founding AEW? The landscape of both companies would be completely different today.

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

RVD wins the Heavyweight Title in Fall 2002
Triple H wins it back at the Rumble
The atrocious Triple H/Steiner match happens at Mania 19

[Bo Rida]

The crowd chant "We want Ryder". Get him. He settles in a solid in mid-card role and his webshow fizzles out.

The Young Bucks are never inspired to make BTE and aew never forms. Loads of knock on effects from that ranging from recent events with Cody to NXT not having such a drastic change of direction.

[Eunös ✈]

Dolph Ziggler would have been wwe champnat somepoint.

I remember when he was the most popular guy on here.