WWF vs WCW: Fire the First Shot

[Rolent Tex]

Ok, let's say it's...oh, say 1997-1998. We still aren't at the point where we've gotten to the WCW sale or the Invasion. WCW is still red hot and the WWF is picking up steam with Austin and Rock getting mega over. Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff secretly work out a deal to book a true WWF vs WCW angle finishing with a Winner Takes All WrestleMania card. Both men put you in charge of the booking team and you report directly to them. How do you fire the first shot in the angle? Who strikes first...WWF or WCW?

As far as I'm concerned, this card is happening at WrestleMania 1998 and starts immediately following Starrcade 1997. Sting single handedly crushes Hollywood Hogan and takes back the WCW Title. The next night on Nitro, Hogan invokes his rematch clause. Towards the end of the match...a mystery man jumps the railing and helps Hogan cheat to retake the WCW Title. Hogan, Hall, Nash and the mystery man hightail it out of the arena while the rest of the nWo holds off the WCW mainstays. The mystery man pulls out a spraycan and paints "WWF" on the WCW Title just to unmask as Vince McMahon himself. As Nitro ends and Raw begins the Raw viewers get a victory speech from Vince and the nWo in the limo escaping.

So, what would your first shot be?

[Boo!]

I'd book a massive one-off free TV three hour spectacular to go head to head with Wrestlemania 14 headlined by:

Hulk Hogan vs Goldberg (special guest ref: Evander Holyfield)
Bret Hart vs Sting
40-man battle royal
A cage match of some description

WWE would be unlikely to retaliate as networks wouldn't want to invest in a show going up against a major WCW PPV. However WCW kind of had their own network, so it'd be fine. Really take the heat away from Wrestlemania and where they were going with it. If WWE were hit in the pocket book, even then, with a low buy rate for the event, history would probably have bee so much different.

[Sir Woodrow]

When the DX invasion happenS in this reality they get attacked by the nWo & dragged into the arena where Hollywood does the legdrop on Hunter.

Battered & bruised, Triple H is held up by Nash as Eric Bischoff grabs the mic and says:

"Go back and tell your boss "Mister McMahon" that if he wants a real war, he just got one!"

At that moment Sting, Luger, DDP, Booker T, Goldberg etc enter the ring, Sting takes the mic off Eric

"And on this one, WCW stands united with the New World Order!"

Hulk:

"What you gonna do Vince, what you gonna do when WCW runs wild on you?"

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

This is too easy.

Night after Wrestlemania XIV, during the presentation of the championship, Goldberg runs out of the crowd, spears Austin, and then disappears back into the crowd.

Alternatively, Austin costs Goldberg the streak.

[SOR]

I'd follow the K.I.S.S method early on. I'd need at least 6 months build and the opening shot would simply be Scott Hall walking through the crowd just like when he debuted in WCW. He tries to jump the rail and is stopped by security who escort him through the crowd and out into the parking lot. Simple.

Next 3 weeks you have more nWo guys joining Hall at ringside. Nash joins in and maybe X-Pac as well. Every week they're in the crowd and always get taken away by security. The announcers never mention them, no wrestler ever mentions them. Eventually after a few weeks of sitting in the crowd and getting taken away you have the trio sneak a mega phone or something in and disrupt the show during someones promo (Preferably Vince McMahons) security tries to get rid of them again but Vince wants to talk to them.

McMahon calls them out and says maybe the WCW guys can't get rid of the nWo but the WWF guys definitely can etc etc. nWo don't think so and encourage Vince to pick a team. WrestleMania is a 5 on 5 between WWF and nWo.

The match could be something like:

Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Syxx and Randy Savage Vs Steve Austin, Undertaker, Cactus Jack, Ken Shamrock and a very hesitant Shawn Michaels.

WWF wins ending the nWo and the angle would progress with the WWF taking jabs at WCW for retiring the nWo and doing what the WCW guys couldn't do. WCW guys take offense and invade a RAW and you do 12 months of WWF Vs WCW leading to your big "Winner takes all" super show at Wrestlemania 1999. That would be your money card where you'd have Goldberg/Austin, Hogan/Taker, Outsiders/Outlaws, Triple H/Savage. Hell, Even throw in an Eric Bischoff Vs Vince McMahon street fight.

You can't just blow your load within a month or two and have this big super card right away.

[tigermaskxxxvii]

Dec 18, 2013 5:02:30 GMT -5 Boo! said:

Hulk Hogan vs Goldberg (special guest ref: Evander Holyfield)

I'm surprised WCW never brought in Evander Holyfield in a petty attempt by Bischoff to one up Vince. "Oh, you're gonna bring in Mike Tyson? Well I'm gonna bring the guy who knocked out Mike Tyson, who also beat Mike Tyson so bad in the second fight that he had to resort to ear biting!"

[HMARK Center]

I'm not sure how I'd start it, but a big aspect of it would be the reveal that Vince DID send Hall and Nash to WCW to kill/take over it, but that once they got Hogan on their side they started to go rogue over a short period of time.

Not sure where I'd go with it from there, but that was a huge possible storyline and it bugged the hell out of me that WWF didn't run with it when it brought the nWo in after the Invasion.

[Tony Schiavontay]

In mid-97, WWF revives the Billionaire Ted vignettes, leading to nothing but Vince calling The Huckster, The Nacho Man, Fake Razor, Fake Diesel and finally Billionaire Ted out and making them join the Kiss My Ass Club. WWF folds a few weeks later.

[Rolent Tex]

Dec 18, 2013 17:31:51 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

I'm not sure how I'd start it, but a big aspect of it would be the reveal that Vince DID send Hall and Nash to WCW to kill/take over it, but that once they got Hogan on their side they started to go rogue over a short period of time.

Not sure where I'd go with it from there, but that was a huge possible storyline and it bugged the hell out of me that WWF didn't run with it when it brought the nWo in after the Invasion.

That always irked me as well. Instead of bringing the nWo in as poison to kill another company, Vince should have thrown them a victory celebration for completing their mission and ending WCW.

Back to my first shot post...a little follow up. I'd have Vince send the nWo after his enemies like a pack of rabid wolves taking out the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince would be blind to the fact that the nWo are no longer his guys and are Bischoff's boys. Hogan unifies the WWF and WCW/nWo Titles and bolts back to WCW with both titles in tow. Vince is forced to form an uneasy alliance with Stone Cold to take back the WWF Title from Hogan.

[Reflecto]

First step: Go all out like the rumor would have been. Bischoff beats Zybysko, possibly by Bret Hart helping him. Thunder becomes nWo Thunder outright and its own brand.

Once you establish the WCW theory of "WCW vs. NWO vs. WWF", then you start to strike more. Have Bischoff start saying unintentionally cryptic comments like "First WCW, tomorrow THE WORLD!"- that could be taken at face value or not. No one knows what's going on.

The real first shot happens in April:

The WWF hypes up the DX Invasion of the Scope Arena. The members do their thing, but they end up getting into the arena. They are invited in. The NWO cuts a promo on Nitro. DX shows up in the ring. They start to cut a promo... then Kevin Nash and Triple H hug. HHH, the Outlaws, Chyna, and X-Pac take their DX shirts off, revealing green and black 'nWo' shirts underneath. The NWO and D-Generation X were one and the same all along- and now the WWF has to deal with an NWO invasion as well.

Now, you build to a similar card- but instead of WWF vs. WCW as the Winner Take All card, you end up building to two supercards- Starrcade 1998 as WWF AND WCW join forces to destroy The NWO for good- then, Wrestlemania 15 becomes WWF vs. WCW as a supercard following the two groups taking credit for the NWO's destruction and finally deciding to see which one was better.

[flatsdomino]

I just always thought it would've been perfect to have the Wolfpac show up outside Summerslam 1998 in MSG like DX did at the Norfolk Scope 2 months prior, to "invade" in retaliation. But Kevin Nash was always a lazy dude so I guess having Bischoff make Michael Buffer count out an imaginary Vince McMahon at Slamboree was about the best we were gonna get. Ah well.

[Rolent Tex]

Dec 20, 2013 19:30:58 GMT -5 flatsdomino said:

I just always thought it would've been perfect to have the Wolfpac show up outside Summerslam 1998 in MSG like DX did at the Norfolk Scope 2 months prior, to "invade" in retaliation. But Kevin Nash was always a lazy dude so I guess having Bischoff make Michael Buffer count out an imaginary Vince McMahon at Slamboree was about the best we were gonna get. Ah well.

Hell. I think it's the most epic thing in the history of epicness that WWE dubbed in Vince's theme music for his "entrance" for the Bischoff match.