Rebooking Wrestlemania 9

[The Blue Nova]

here is how I would Rebook it

1 Battle Of the Big men Crush vs Bam Bam Bigelow Winner Bigelow
2 Lex Luger Vs Bob Backlund Winner Luger
3 Nasty Boys Headshrinkers Winner Headshrinkers
4 Steiner Brothers vs Money Inc Tag Team Titles Winner Steiner Brothers
5 Shawn Michaels vs Mystery Opponent who turns out to be Marty Winner Marty Janetty by Help from Mr Perfect
6 Mr Pefect vs Razor Ramon Winner Razor with Help from Shawn Michaels
7 Yokozuna vs Tatanka Winner Yokozuna
8 Doink vs The Undertaker Winner Undertaker
9 Bret Hart vs Randy Savage for the World Title Winner Bret

[auph10imitated]

WWF Heavyweight Championship Match
Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Guest Referee: Hulk Hogan

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
2/3 Falls Match
Shawn Michaels (w/Luna Vachon) vs Marty Jannetty (w/Sensational Sherri)

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Money Inc (w/Jimmy Hart) vs The Nasty Boys (w/Capt Lou Albano)

Lex Luger (w/Bobby Heenan) vs Mr Perfect

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs Razor Ramon

Eight Man Tag Team Match
Doink The Clown, Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) vs. Crush, Tatanka and The Steiner Brothers

Flag Match
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs Yokozuna (w/Mr Fuji)

[auph10imitated]

Results:

Yokozuna defeats Jim Duggan at 6:10 after Mr Fuji nails Duggan with the American Flag. Yokozuna continues the attack after the match until Hulk Hogan runs in and makes the save.

The Nasty Boys defeat Money Inc via DQ at 11:40 after Jimmy Hart tries to interfere, after the match the Nasty Boys run Money Inc off and Albano beats up Jimmy Hart.

The Undertaker defeated Razor Ramon @ 7:32 with a tombstone piledriver

Shawn Michaels defeated Marty Janetty in a 2/3 Falls Match in 22:10, Michaels won the fisrt fall, Jannetty the second and Michaels took the third fall with a roll up and holding onto the ropes, after the match Luna Vachon attacked Sensational Sherri

Lex Luger defeated Mr Perfect @ 11:06 with the running forearm knocking him out. Later in the show Perfect finds Luger backstage and they end up fighting, Shawn Michaels then jumps Perfect and Bret Hart makes the save (Luger had knocked Hart out during the WM brunch)

Doink, Bam Bam & The Headshrinkers defeated Crush, Tatanka and The Steiners at 8:28 when a 2nd Doink came from under the ring during a pier six brawl and nailed Crush with a prostetic arm.

Bret Hart defeated Randy Savage at 17:48 with a sharpshooter, during the match both Yokozuna and Lex Luger tried to interfere but were run off by guest referee Hulk Hogan. After the match Savage teased a heel turn, but shook Harts hand and the three babyface's celebrated.





This then sets up post WM feuds of -

Hogan vs Yokozuna
Bret Hart vs Lex Luger
Mr Perfect vs Shawn Michaels
Money Inc vs Steiners
Sherri vs Luna
Tatanka vs Bam Bam
Crush/Taker/Razor/Doink have some cross over in thier feuds which will eventually lead to a Taker/Doink angle in the summer, while Razor moves onto the Kid and Crush later turns heel.

[repomark]

1. WWF Title Match - Hulk Hogan vs Bret Hitman Hart (Bret wins establishing himself as the guy)
2. Career match - Ric Flair vs Mr Perfect (Flair simply delays his exit for a few months and Perfect wins)
3. Lex Luger vs Tatanka (Luger ends Tatanka's undefeated streak)
4. Intercontinental Title Match- Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty (although would have done this the year before at WM8, if that still didn't happen I would have Jannetty win their match at the Royal Rumble and drop belt back to Shawn here)
5. Tag Team Title Match - Money Inc vs Steiner Brothers (Steiners win the belts)
6. Undertaker vs Bam Bam Bigelow (Taker wins)
7. Doink the Clown vs Crush (loved this match just the way it was - Doink wins with Doink clone interference)
8. Razor Ramon vs Macho Man Randy Savage (Razor wins their feud)
9. Yokozuna vs Bob Backlund (quick squash for Yoko to build him up to face Bret)

[Boo!]

Everyone has Bret winning which IMO shows historical context being completely ignored. Bret keeping the title at WM is "let's retain Orton as champ" logic today. If you were rebooking WM9 realistically if you're going to respect the time period, Bret would be highly unlikely to be the guy you'd want to leave as champ unless you're in "that really appalling drop in business an house shows? Why don't we try that again" mode. Which is unlikely, surely?

[auph10imitated]

Personally, I would have had Savage go over as he's my all time favorite. I wouldn't have even taken the title off him in 1992 to begin with, he should have been given a longer run. However Bret logically goes over to me as hes the younger guy they were pushing, Savage had his time and Bret needs the rub.

Who else would you have leave with the belt? Hogan wasn't going to be working house shows so giving him the title was always pointless to me. Yokozuna wasn't ready IMO, as I say Savage had his time - so going with Bret/Luger title feud post Mania is the best option you have in 1993, with Hogan/Yoko matches for the shows Hogan actually works. (similar to the 1990 series of Hogan/Quake to Warrior/Rude)

Luger really should have been built up bigger as a heel in 1993. He isnt one of my fav's by any means, but he had the potential to be a successful top heel and they should have run with Luger/Bret, Luger/Savage, Luger/Hogan matches to cement that.

Oh and i'd have had Hart beat Flair at the '93 Rumble as well rather than Razor, that was another match that needed to happen on PPV.

[thegame415]

What about a main event of Bret and Hogan teaming against Yokozuna and Ted Dibiase? This eventually sets up for Hogan challenging Bret "for one last opportunity" at Smmerslam.

[SOR]

I don't know the era very well so this could be a silly post but nonetheless.

I'd just go with Hogan Vs Yokozuna at the show. Have Bret lose to Yoko in the lead up to Mania and have Hogan as the hero trying to stop the unstoppable monster anyway he can.

Hulk wins after about 12-13 minutes. WWF gets the finish they obviously wanted, Bret isn't damaged by it and Hogan drops it down the track at King Of The Ring, Back to Yoko just like what really happened.

[jason1980s]

When I was younger and my only way of knowing older PPV results (without having the videos or WWF magazine on hand) I went through the PWI almanac and made custom PPVs based on the actual results plus whatever wrestlers weren't on the show but could have been.
By April 1993 Nasty Boys and Big Bossman were either gone or on the way out, Skinner and Berzerker same deal. Beverly Brothers were about to disband if not already. Owen Hart and Koko similar. Based on Royal Rumble's roster, WrestleMania didn't have much to go on.

I'll try my best with help from a few previous posts. I love these "what if" PPVs.

I think a Bret v. Savage main event would have been most interesting considering the previous year's Piper v. Bret match. Add the question of which guy will crack (turn heel in match) under the pressure of facing a friend along with Savage wanting to cement his legacy and I think it leads to a great main event. I can't think of a heel winning a PPV main event so this match would give a face win and it wouldn't be a silly Hogan win.
Yokozuna v. Duggan is good. Yokozuna destroys the returning Duggan again and is on his way to main event status. He eventually wins a TV show title match so by KOTR he's champ, beats Hogan at KOTR and the Luger turn takes places as well so Summerslam is what it was originally.
Money Inc. v. Hogan and Beefcake as planned.
Michaels v. Jannetty with Jannetty winning so Tatanka isn't hurt by not pinning Michaels and he won't have to lose the IC title if he beat Michaels. Sherri and Luna in each man's corner but Luna will be introduced before hand so people actually know who she is other than Heenan.
Tatanka v. Bigelow. A basic one on one match like previous wrestlemanias with no prior feud. Double countout or DQ so neither guy is affected and their summer feud begins.
Shango v. Tito. I'm going with a longer WM (like III-VII) so more matches and more PPV pay days for guys. Plus I never liked dark matches. I liked being able to see them on the show. Tito gets his only PPV win in a singles match.
Steiners and Nasties v. Headshrinkers and Beverlys. Won't make the show too long but allow Nasties and Beverlys one last PPV and it gives a little moor "coolness" factor than just two different tag matches.
Kamala v. Berzerker. I'd keep Berzerker on a few more months, would have kept Fuji on as manager. I loved Kamala and want him to get a WM win while Slick humanizes him. Berzerker loses and Fuji winds up having Yokozuna destroy him which makes fans fear for Duggan. Kimchee joined Fuji for the match.
Doink v. Crush as planned. That was an interesting feud and a cool way to bring along evil Doink.
Razor v. Virgil. Don't give Backlund the PPV loss just yet. He came back with some fan fare. A loss doesn't hurt Virgil. Maybe even do a Piper-like mentoring with Backlund (remember the "carrot" photo) and Virgil.
Luger v. Perfect. Put more emphasis on Heenan's involvement with bringing Luger to WWF, having managed Perfect and having lost Ric Flair. Have Heenan pull a WrestleMania VII and be at ringside with Luger. Razor interferes resulting in DQ so neither man is hurt.
Undertaker v. Giant Gonzales. I'd rather do an Earthquake feud resulting from Royal Rumble and a last match at WM but he was on the way out in January so probably couldn't stay too much longer. Giant was bad but I do like those drawn out, old school feuds. From summer 1992 to 1993 Undertaker was feuding with a Wippleman guy. I'd introduce Hughes a week earlier, have Heenan speculate where he was, then help attack at the PPV.

Only guys left off card, IIRC, are Bossman, Typhoon, Terry Taylor, Bushwhackers (rarely on TV), Owen and Koko and maybe Skinner and Repo Man.

[wwefan71080]

Hogan vs Flair retirement match: Hogan wins and Flair goes back to WCW. Match length 22:30

Hart vs Savage for the WWE title: Hart wins. Match Length 35:12

Yokozuna vs Duggan: Yokozuna wins via bonzai drop. Match Length 3:25

Undertaker vs Papa Shango: Undertaker wins via tombstone. Match length 13:15

Doink vs Crush: keep as it was but build a major feud from it going until WM 10 and have Doink switch from heel to face by sometime in october 1993 and keep Crush's turn as it was. by the way have Crush stretchered out like what happened on superstars. Match Length 17:27

Headshrinkers vs Steiners vs Money INC for the Tag titles with the Steiners winning. Match Length 12:02

Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty for the IC belt: Shawn Michaels wins via SCM. Match Length 25:20

Lex Luger vs Tatanka: Lex Luger wins via running elbow. Match length 10:12

Razor vs Backlund: Razor wins. Match length 10:00

[metylerca]

Seeing how Yoko won the Rumble that year, most of these are wrong from the get-go. I'm sure the fantasy booking will have fine, fine workrate, but storylines wouldn't give the booking at the time any credit. Savage in the main against Bret as a face vs face? Bret wasn't drawing well and face vs face confrontations for the sake of ****1/2 ratings doesn't help the show. Yoko was the new hot heel they were pushing and he was exceptional at getting the audiences to loathe him.

Savage on this show wouldn't headline because of Vince wanting new people up top. The Hogan ending was a power play by Hulk. The Doink revisionist romancing is also weird as by the fall he was a comedy character that Bushwhackers dressed as. Him vs Undertaker doesn't have the allure of Giant Gonzalez, even if the work in that particular match stunk.

I'd have Steiners beat Money Inc, but that'd leave Hogan without a role. That's where I'd have Razor take the fall as Backlund was just back after a great Rumble appearance. Maybe have him against Crush or even Doink in a comedy match.

Shawn vs Marty would be awesome if Janetty stayed off drugs, which he didn't. I'd have Shawn against Perfect here and have Diesel debut to help Shawn retain by the skin of his teeth. This does change the timeline of Nash being hired after WM though. Luger can interfere after the Hogan match to set something up there and even if Hulk leaves, Lex Luger is positioned high on the cards, making his inevitable superpush less weird.

[jason1980s]

I can see Savage v. Hart and Bret isn't a stranger to facing a face at a PPV. Vince seemed to like to give a conclusion to some guys' careers before putting them into a lesser on-screen role so I can see him having Savage do a pass the torch to Bret at a PPV.

[auph10imitated]

Storyline wise for Hart vs Savage I would have added Hulk Hogan as the guest referee for the match for the extra drawing card, and have him do segments with both Savage and Hart in the lead up to the PPV, play on all the Savage/Hogan history etc, and do something similar to the Piper/Hart feud a year previous with Hart going all "competitive" chucking friendship out the window, which brings out some old school Savage - dropping the cartoon demeanor and getting all serious again. Bret defeats Savage - but you also have run ins from Yoko/Lex setting up the angles for the summer and Bret stands tall celebrating with two of the biggest stars of the previous era.

Then you have Hogan/Yoko and Bret/Luger angles in the spring, that can lead to either a tag match as the KOTR main event, or two separate singles matches.

In reality, Yokozuna was a good heel, but its not as if he was that hot that he could draw any better than Savage at WM. They just tried to recreate the old Hogan babyface vs monster heel deal with Hart, I would bet that had Hogan not pulled a power play Hart would have gone over Yoko as the babyface always traditionally won and they were clearly setting up Luger as his next challenger.

[repomark]

Dec 26, 2013 15:34:05 GMT -5 metylerca said:

Seeing how Yoko won the Rumble that year, most of these are wrong from the get-go. I'm sure the fantasy booking will have fine, fine workrate, but storylines wouldn't give the booking at the time any credit.

I'd have Shawn against Perfect here and have Diesel debut to help Shawn retain by the skin of his teeth. This does change the timeline of Nash being hired after WM though. Luger can interfere after the Hogan match to set something up there and even if Hulk leaves, Lex Luger is positioned high on the cards, making his inevitable superpush less weird.

I think most people who booked an alternative main event were also rebooking the Royal Rumble (I know I was). Given Savage was the runner up that year, it is pretty easy to rebook him winning to face Bret. It is no different than - as you have done in your fantasy booking - revising the time line when Diesel signed.

In my booking I was having Hogan v Bret as the main event for the pass the torch moment, which they had intended to do at Summerslam 93 anyway before Hogan left. It would have been a nice WM moment, and would have solidified Bret as the man going forward, something that they did not officially do until the end of WM 10. Beating Yokozuna at WM10 did not mean nearly as much as it would have done if Bret had of cleanly pinned Hogan at a PPV, and this would have been the ideal fantasy booking at the time in my view.

To do so all that would have needed to happen was for Hogan to win the Rumble instead of Yoko - which would only mean him coming back a month or so earlier.

[repomark]

Dec 24, 2013 22:19:35 GMT -5 Boo! said:

Everyone has Bret winning which IMO shows historical context being completely ignored. Bret keeping the title at WM is "let's retain Orton as champ" logic today. If you were rebooking WM9 realistically if you're going to respect the time period, Bret would be highly unlikely to be the guy you'd want to leave as champ unless you're in "that really appalling drop in business an house shows? Why don't we try that again" mode. Which is unlikely, surely?

Wow I am sensing you have some Bret Hart issues. This is fair enough, but I think the historical context is not being ignored at all. One of the issues for Bret/WWE at the time was trying to get the Hitman to be looked at on the same level as Savage or Hogan and as a credible champion - and what better way to do so than by beating one of them in the main event of the biggest show of the year?

And, whilst I think you were maybe being tongue in cheek with your last point about how it would have been stupid to go with Bret at WM9 because business dipped with him as champion, it is worth pointing out that they did exactly that the following year at WM10. The end of that show solidified Bret as the man (at that time) so doing so a year sooner would have made just as much sense. The fact Bret never beat Hogan or Savage in order for the torch to be passed is for me one of the main reasons why it was difficult for Bret to be regarded as "the man".

Maybe he still would have struggled to be regarded on the same level even if he had beaten one of them, but it certainly would have given him a better chance.

[auph10imitated]

Had they had Bret Hart go over Ric Flair at the Royal Rumble, Randy Savage at Wrestlemania and Hulk Hogan at Summerslam then 1993 may have been Hart's big break out year. Thats all he needed was the "names" to put him over. Yokozuna was so new at that time, Bret beating him or losing to him at Wrestlemania just wasnt really going to ever do anyone any favors.

Him beating Yokozuna would have kind of killed Yoko's momentum, him losing (which he did) wouldnt have been keeping in tradition of the babyface's hero hour. Him beating Savage would have given the passing of the torch moment.

I think Yokozuna is the equivalent Earthquake face Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 6. He was too new into his "monster heel push" to be given that spot. He should have squashed Duggan in a match similar to the one they had at the Summerslam Spectacular.