Times a Company Was Most Dependent on a Single Star?

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

For the sake of this thread I’m talking a situation where the company’s momentum either stalled, started nosediving, or the company is just so desperate to reach another level they’ve dumped all their eggs in one basket and hoped for the best.

For example I’m not talking about Steve Austin in the WWF in 1998. Even though he was injured during the year the show heavily revolved around him. But WWF was also white hot at the time. If Austin had a mental breakdown or just decided to walk out of the WWF that year it would be a major blow no doubt, but they’d have still been able to pivot.

I’m thinking more like Kurt Angle in TNA in 2006/2007 and then again in 2015.

For the first case TNA actually had upward momentum at the time and Kurt Angle was arguably their biggest free agent up to that point. I remember at the time some folks calling it the Kurt Angle show in a derogatory sense.

For 2015 TNA was in full dumpster fire mode then it was like they suddenly realized, “Hey at least we still have Kurt Angle on the roster” and suddenly pushed him as superhuman for a while. It was funny because the spotlight really got taken off of him for while during the Hogan era. It’s not like he was buried or anything, but Kurt Angle: Midcarder was kind of weird in TNA given how hard they pushed him those other times.

[Citizen Snips]

I don’t have the numbers to back it up but WWWF is always pretty much presented as “Bruno draws at The Garden” for its first 10 years or so.

[EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese]

I want to say 2010 WWE. Michaels had retired, Batista had left, Undertaker and Triple H had just gone part-time and a lot of the fringe main event were guys that were typecast as good hands to get the others over (Punk, Jericho, Mysterio, Christian, Morrison), weren’t clicking in their current form (Edge, Big Show) or were still a bit green to warrant their spot (Sheamus, McIntyre, Swagger). Miz had momentum but wasn’t really a draw. Orton was over and fresh as a babyface, but wasn’t really a draw. Not to mention people still being very fatigued of Cena as the top star. But if Cena had gone down or left, WWE may have really been in the shit. Even WITH him, there was all the chatter about how WM27 was going to be this big disaster because there was nothing appealing on the horizon with what they had, which is arguably what led to them bringing Rock back in and opening that whole kettle of fish.

[Jindrak Mark]

Hogan in mid-90s WCW? 

By 97-98 they were hot enough they could have done without him but from 94-96 he was absolutely necessary to turn business around.

They had been sinking money for years and basically handed him the keys to the kingdom and they finally started making a profit, from 94-98 anyway. They may have never got Nitro without him either as his presence was key in Ted Turner green lighting it.

[One of the Cooler, Candid TOKs]

This is a massive stretch of the term "company" but 2009 ECW was just Christian making dudes that would be working the NXT Florida loop these days look like future superstars on a weekly basis

[kidkamikaze10]

It's Hiroshi Tanahashi's claim to fame. He saved NJPW from Inokism dooming it.

[Aceorton]

From early '94 to roughly mid-'95, the WWF absolutely needed Bret and would have been in a world of hurt without him, even with Diesel as champ and Michaels on the path toward becoming the top guy. Bret was the escape plan when Luger's push crapped out, his feud with Owen anchored things during a mostly horrendous period between WrestleMania and Survivor Series while Vince was caught up in the steroid trial, he legitimized Backlund and Diesel as top heels (and helped establish Diesel as the new babyface champ), he worked twice on the first In Your House because the roster was so thin, and he was the key to the strong overseas business that got the WWF through their darkest times.

I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

[chrom]

AJ Styles carried TNA on his back the first three years

[ace]

*looks at Collision ratings*

*looks at CM Punk*

[chazraps]

Dec 13, 2023 19:37:29 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

Hogan in mid-90s WCW? 

By 97-98 they were hot enough they could have done without him but from 94-96 he was absolutely necessary to turn business around.

They had been sinking money for years and basically handed him the keys to the kingdom and they finally started making a profit, from 94-98 anyway. They may have never got Nitro without him either as his presence was key in Ted Turner green lighting it.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this. 94 Hogan was a shot in the arm, but WCW's entire house show business being rebuilt fell on the shoulders of Savage vs Flair on top. Even when the Hulk honeymoon started to end in mid-to-late '95, Savage and Flair carried the company until the nWo debut.

[Nosnorb]

Dec 13, 2023 18:50:02 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

For 2015 TNA was in full dumpster fire mode then it was like they suddenly realized, “Hey at least we still have Kurt Angle on the roster” and suddenly pushed him as superhuman for a while. It was funny because the spotlight really got taken off of him for while during the Hogan era. It’s not like he was buried or anything, but Kurt Angle: Midcarder was kind of weird in TNA given how hard they pushed him those other times.

Destination America told TNA to put the title on Angle, despite the dude looking like death warmed up and calling him a shell of his former self would be an insult to shells of their former selves everywhere. Dude had two neck surgeries that year, one to remove a tumor and another to drain excess fluid a week later.

[thegame415]

Shaw Michaels in summer 1996? Only guy comparable would be Undertaker

[Urn Anderson]

If WWF didn’t have Hogan from 1985-1986, both WWE and pro wrestling as a whole would be in a very different animal.

Bruno was getting too old and Backlund was passe. You had Bret, Savage, and a few other future stars in the company, but none of them were quite to that level yet.

If Hogan would have gotten hurt or walked out any time between the buildup to Wrestlemania 1 through Wrestlemania 2, I honestly don’t know what WWF’s course of action would have been.

Do you just run with Andre until the wheels fall off? Bring back Bruno? Send a blank check to Dusty Rhodes? I don’t see anyone else fitting into the superhero babyface role. Flair wasn’t right for the role, and Sting and Warrior weren’t quite developed yet.

[Jindrak Mark]

Despite never holding the world title apparently during the last year or two of ECW RVD was considered the main "this is our top draw and we are absolutely screwed if WWF or WCW gets him" guy.

Goldberg probably should have been this for WCW in 2000-01 in an attempt to rebuild around him but he was booked so badly. Probably wouldn't have saved them in the end anyway but an attempt should have at least been made. He could have been the clear top star, main eventing the PPVs and trying to rebuild the 98 aura but instead he's teaming with his annoying little trainer and feuding with Lex Luger for months in the midcard.

[chazraps]

Dec 14, 2023 21:30:00 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

Goldberg probably should have been this for WCW in 2000-01 in an attempt to rebuild around him but he was booked so badly. Probably wouldn't have saved them in the end anyway but an attempt should have at least been made. He could have been the clear top star, main eventing the PPVs and trying to rebuild the 98 aura but instead he's teaming with his annoying little trainer and feuding with Lex Luger for months in the midcard.

It blows my mind that Goldberg only every officially had the one WCW title reign.

[Mozenrath]

FMW's dependence on Hayabusa has to rank very high. Obviously, they'd had other draws before, namely Megumi Kudo, Onita, and Tarzan Goto, but the company survived the departures of those three. It was Hayabusa's decline due to injuries, capped off with the accident that ended his career, that caused the company to bleed and then die, with the promoter needing to borrow heavily from the Yakuza in order to keep it afloat, and then killing himself when the debts became too high to pay off with anything short of life insurance.