If Shawn Michaels had left with Nash and Hall in ‘96

[jivesoulbrah]

Would there have been a fake HBK debuting later that year alongside fake Diesel and fake Razor?

[DragonMasterP]

I imagine Vince would lock himself up in his office and spend his days endlessly crying his eyes out.

[Push R Truth]

I'll admit it, I would have paid real money to see Al Snow as Fake HBK.


Granted a nickle is technically real money

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

The Vince Hobo Army would've happened for real.

[DZ: WF Legacy]

Bob Holly cosplayed as Bret Hart back in Smoky Mountain, so we may very well have been robbed of Sexy Bob.

[IgnahtaSempria]

Dec 26, 2018 15:20:31 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

I'll admit it, I would have paid real money to see Al Snow as Fake HBK.


Granted a nickle is technically real money

Welcome to the forums, Mr. Foley! Love your work.

[Deleted]

Did Bret have his serious issues with HBK around the point of Nash & Hall leaving, or was that later in the year into 1997?

I would imagine if they did, Bret would've been the one to push the issue of Shawn being a loser/traitor (possibly against Weepy Vince's wishes).


More importantly than all this crap, would HHH have lasted long enough to marry Stephanie and become God of All That Is?

[Deleted]

"Stronger, faster and better looking than the old Heartbreak Kid... Thurman Plugg!"

[A Platypus Rave]

It'd be harder to do it for Shawn since Vince doesn't own the Shawn Michaels name unlike Razor and Diesel.

I mean they could try and call someone else the Heartbreak Kid... but again that's a nickname...

[Bub (BLM)]

Hogan wouldn't have been the third man, and the nWo would have fizzled out when Shawn couldn't keep his shit together. Basically, WCW might've died even sooner. Say what you will about Hogan, but his heel turn made that company stupid amounts of money. Shawn couldn't draw ants to a picnic in 1996.

[Nosnorb]

Either Meng or Scott Steiner would have killed him.

[Deleted]

Dec 27, 2018 14:12:10 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

Hogan wouldn't have been the third man, and the nWo would have fizzled out when Shawn couldn't keep his shit together. Basically, WCW might've died even sooner. Say what you will about Hogan, but his heel turn made that company stupid amounts of money. Shawn couldn't draw ants to a picnic in 1996.

It's true to an extent, but Hall and Nash weren't big draws either until the "hostile takeover".  Stripper Shawn was a horrible babyface which is likely a big reason he flopped in his championship run.  It's hard to know how over he would have been if he had indeed been the third man in the nWo.  Regardless, I don't think it would have been as successful without Hogan.  Hogan's turn brought millions of disenfranchised 80's wrestling fans back and gave birth to the 90's wrestling boom.  Shawn could not have made that impact.

[Hobby Drifter]

The nWo would have fizzled out (probably because Hogan would have demanded to go over them), WCW would have never gotten huge. The Attitude Era wouldn’t have happened. The Monday Night Wars wouldn’t have kicked off the boom period. Austin/Rock/HHH would have been midcarders for life. Wrestling wouldn’t have gone mainstream. WWE wouldn’t have gone public, becoming answerable to shareholders. No wellness policy. No sponsored rehab.

Best-case scenario for HBK is that he’d have wound up like Dynamite Kid.

A whole lot more wrestlers would have died as well.

Grim.

[mattyy]

Shawn would probably be dead in the mid 2000's had he made the jump.

[Deleted]

I have no imagination for what Shawn Michaels in WCW would look like. I can't fathom a universe where that would happen, I don't think WCW would have ever seen him for what Shawn would think he's worth to them. I couldn't see them even putting him at the forefront of the Outsiders, let alone the nWo.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 27, 2018 15:40:51 GMT -5 @oldbaby said:

Dec 27, 2018 14:12:10 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

Hogan wouldn't have been the third man, and the nWo would have fizzled out when Shawn couldn't keep his shit together. Basically, WCW might've died even sooner. Say what you will about Hogan, but his heel turn made that company stupid amounts of money. Shawn couldn't draw ants to a picnic in 1996.

It's true to an extent, but Hall and Nash weren't big draws either until the "hostile takeover".  Stripper Shawn was a horrible babyface which is likely a big reason he flopped in his championship run.  It's hard to know how over he would have been if he had indeed been the third man in the nWo.  Regardless, I don't think it would have been as successful without Hogan.  Hogan's turn brought millions of disenfranchised 80's wrestling fans back and gave birth to the 90's wrestling boom.  Shawn could not have made that impact.

Not to mention if Hogan stays face... "that doesn't work for me brother" continues and the NWO fizzles before anything happens

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Off topic but Steve Corino claimed that he was gonna be brought in as fake 123 Kid, that led to Tracy Smothers calling him “Four five six” for years.

The OP presents an interesting question. If Shawn goes with them do they even turn Hogan heel? Would Shawn and Hogan co exist? Would Shawn od’s on Panama City after Nitro?

[Mozenrath]

Dec 27, 2018 18:31:02 GMT -5 mattyy said:

Shawn would probably be dead in the mid 2000's had he made the jump.

I guess it depends on if they hired who'd become his wife on time, given she was a Nitro Girl wasn't she? And I think that was his primary reason for getting clean, so she'd give him the time of day.

[Deleted]

Spark Plug Kid!

[cabbageboy]

I think we could have gotten some sort of DX/NWO hybrid group. We know that Shawn was a terrific heel once he turned later in 1997, so him cranking it up a notch to be in the NWO would have been interesting. I think Hogan might have gotten that Sting role instead though, or some version of him going to a darker place but not turning heel. That keeps him away from going over these guys until the time is right. And he would have kept working out and had a decent tan, brother.