WrestleMania X8 Main Event

[Lardlad]

Was on twitter earlier and saw former WWE writer Seth Mates post the following:

Seth Mates ‏@sethmates
Did you know: HHH-Austin was supposed to be main at WM18. But Austin wanted to turn baby, effectively ending that from happening.

Followed by:
Seth Mates ‏@sethmates
Love the HHH-Austin match and great finish. HATED the Two-Man Power Trip. To me, that's the moment the Attitude Era jumped the shark.


Was this fairly common knowledge at the time? I think that would have been great and had no idea it was even on the table at the time.

Better than Steve Austin Vs Scott Hall and Triple H going on last Vs Jericho after the Rock-Hogan match at least.

[fw91]

In my opinion stone cold turning face after the invasion made complete sense. Nobody wanted to boo the guy, and now that the alliance was abolished what was the point of keeping him heel. A face/face match at HHH would have been interesting especially after their interactions in the rumble match. At any rate Austin deserved so much more then a low mid card match against Hall. Perhaps even a gimmick match against Angle to end their feud that never really ended

[Error]

I remember there was talk of a heel Austin feuding with a face Triple H coming out of the 2MPT but the quad tear ended it. Didn't know about the WM18 stuff.

[joebob27]

My god would that be awful. "Okay, Steve, you're gonna stay heel, be the undisputed champ and keep it warm for megaface Trips, who we're just going to turn in the summer anyway."

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

I would have gone with Two-Man Power Trip v The Outsiders as a WrestleMania match, and have Jericho defend the title against say, Rob Van Dam.

[mrjl]

Jan 25, 2013 20:17:19 GMT -5 joebob27 said:

My god would that be awful. "Okay, Steve, you're gonna stay heel, be the undisputed champ and keep it warm for megaface Trips, who we're just going to turn in the summer anyway."

they weren't planning to turn Hunter heel. He would have feuded with the nWo if everything had gone right.

[joebob27]

Jan 25, 2013 20:42:25 GMT -5 mrjl said:

Jan 25, 2013 20:17:19 GMT -5 joebob27 said:

My god would that be awful. "Okay, Steve, you're gonna stay heel, be the undisputed champ and keep it warm for megaface Trips, who we're just going to turn in the summer anyway."

they weren't planning to turn Hunter heel. He would have feuded with the nWo if everything had gone right.

Yeah, but he would have turned anyway. Him vs. Kevin Nash can only go on for so long before Nash gets hurt.

The way it worked out was for the best, well, except for Austin and Angle getting crappy bookings and Nash not being used at WM

[TOK Is the Target Demo]

Jan 25, 2013 20:51:38 GMT -5 joebob27 said:

Jan 25, 2013 20:42:25 GMT -5 mrjl said:

they weren't planning to turn Hunter heel. He would have feuded with the nWo if everything had gone right.

Yeah, but he would have turned anyway. Him vs. Kevin Nash can only go on for so long before Nash gets hurt.

The way it worked out was for the best, well, except for Austin and Angle getting crappy bookings and Nash not being used at WM

To be fair, even those decisions make sense. Austin was feuding with someone who was one of the biggest stars at one point (even if he was an unreliable drunk at that time) and Angle was being kept free just in case they were able to get Sting to sign.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Jan 25, 2013 20:19:22 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

I would have gone with Two-Man Power Trip v The Outsiders as a WrestleMania match, and have Jericho defend the title against say, Rob Van Dam.

I say put the title on Rock and have him defend against Hogan if you're going to do that, because there's no way Jericho as champ could hope to follow both Rock vs. Hogan and the TMPT vs. the nWo.