The Champions/Feuds That Weren't

[WesReviews]

Inspired by a recent discussion in the ALmighty Thor thread, let's discuss feuds that should have happened or could have happened but never did for whatever reason and champions that should've worn the strap but were never given their shot.

Guys that should've had title runs... Piper (I know he was an IC champ but he was too good of a heel to not be given a legit world title run) He did feud with Hogan in many title shots, (and technically never lost) but he also didn't win the belt from Hogan. He could've been the WWF's answer to Flair (and in many ways, he was) but unfortunately, Vince never saw fit to give him the world title.

DiBiase... pretty much the same. One of the all-time great heels, and his matches were almost always solid.

Hennig... this guy was so good in the ring, he made Hogan look halfway decent (growing up, I was a total Hulkamaniac, but looking back, his ring skills were pretty much nil.)

Though I was a fan of Hogan's when I was younger, looking back, I think his title reign was a tad too long. Stretching into the Sgt. Slaughter/Undertaker era, I think Dibiase or Hennig should've had runs. Why did they promote Sgt. Slaughter to a main eventer, even though they had two perfectly awesome heels that could've filled that role? I guess Vince just wanted to take advantage of the Gulf War at the time. Probably the only reason Slaughter got that particular push.

As for a feud that wasn't... Using those last two guys, even though they were both heels, I'd liked to have seen a Hennig/Dibiase feud. I think they could've produced some pretty classic matches in their WWF years. Probably would've required one turning face... (I could see Hennig as a face moreso than DiBiase).

Thoughts?

[Brett H.]

Well, from what I can gather, Ted Dibiase was supposed to win the title at Wrestlemania 4. Honky Tonk Man refused to lose the IC title to Savage, so McMahon put the belt on him to make him happy. I believe that's how it went down. Honky Tonk touched on not losing the belt to Savage in his shoot, but the exact details are a bit hazy. I believe the announced brackets for the WM4 tournament were actually changed between when they were announced on TV and from what went down at the PPV.

Actually, Hennig was a big time babyface in the early nineties when he became Macho Man's partner at Survivor Series 92, but Dibiase was rolling with Money Inc.

Most of my wishful thinking feuds are really fantasy, but I'd love to have seen The Hart Foundation Vs. Rock N' Roll Express.

[WesReviews]

Well, from what I can gather, Ted Dibiase was supposed to win the title at Wrestlemania 4. Honky Tonk Man refused to lose the IC title to Savage, so McMahon put the belt on him to make him happy. I believe that's how it went down. Honky Tonk touched on not losing the belt to Savage in his shoot, but the exact details are a bit hazy. I believe the announced brackets for the WM4 tournament were actually changed between when they were announced on TV and from what went down at the PPV.

Actually, Hennig was a big time babyface in the early nineties when he became Macho Man's partner at Survivor Series 92, but Dibiase was rolling with Money Inc.

Most of my wishful thinking feuds are really fantasy, but I'd love to have seen The Hart Foundation Vs. Rock N' Roll Express.

That's a shame about Dibiase. How did Honky Tonk Man get enough pull to be able to get Vince to change the belt picture around him? That's amazing.

Hennig as a babyface? Wow. This era of WWF, I know little to nothing about, because I was kind of "too old" to watch wrestling at the time. Or so I thought. Luger, Yokozuna, Doink... I remember seeing them in passing, but I never watched it and kept up with it like I do now. Hennig/Dibiase definitely would've been a good feud.

Harts vs Rock n' Roll Express would've been awesome. Especially as a Scaffold Match. I'd also like to have seen the Steiners vs Hart Foundtation (when both teams were in their prime... meaning NWA Steiners).

Another dream match involving the R&R Express would have to be against The Rockers. That would've been pretty doep. The originators vs the copies. We did get to see the originators vs copies of Legion of Doom vs Demolition, though. Shame that Demos were forced to job to those babyfaced pansies.

[On a Pale Horse]

That's a shame about Dibiase.

Another dream match involving the R&R Express would have to be against The Rockers. That would've been pretty doep. The originators vs the copies. We did get to see the originators vs copies of Legion of Doom vs Demolition, though. Shame that Demos were forced to job to those babyfaced pansies.


Didn't the Powers of Pain fight Demolition too so we saw copies vs copies? And I seem to remember a threeway match with Demo vs LOD vs POP

[Brett H.]

That's a shame about Dibiase. How did Honky Tonk Man get enough pull to be able to get Vince to change the belt picture around him? That's amazing.

You'd be surprised what anyone with a belt can get away with. If I recall correctly, HTM flat out told him no and when McMahon wanted the belt back, he said to come to Arizona to get it. Like I says, I can't remember exactly how it went down. But, influencing McMahon is nothing new. People seem to forget how over Honky Tonk Man was because the gimmick is looked upon now as kind of a joke. Do people really think he held the IC belt the longest in history because he wasn't over? Christ, Bischoff hates Honky's character so much he can't distinguish between wrestling and reality, that's how good Honky did shit back in the day. :X At any rate, if you want great insight, you gotta get a shit-ton of shoot interviews. Really opens your eyes to wrestling.

Closest thing I have on tape is a match between Bret and Owen Vs. The Steiners.


Didn't the Powers of Pain fight Demolition too so we saw copies vs copies? And I seem to remember a threeway match with Demo vs LOD vs POP

Powers of Pain turned heel when Mr. Fuji turned on Demolition to join them at an eighties Survivor Series fa sho.

[WesReviews]

Powers of Pain weren't a bad tag team as far as big guys go. Just kind of bland. They definitely needed a manager to get them through the interviews and so forth. I'd never really thought of them as copies before (they just sorta seemed like their own thing, with Demolition being the most obvious Road Warriors ripoffs) but looking back, they too pretty much got their gimmicks from the RW.

And yes, though I love Demolition, I have come to terms with the fact that they were intended as ripoffs of another tag team. Doesn't stop them from being awesome, just like The Rockers were still awesome, although ripoffs as well.

There were plans, if I'm remembering correctly, for the Demolition gimmick to be revived sometime in the early 2000's with two new members (and perhaps Ax or Smash in the Fuji role). I think it was stifled by Ax's lawsuit against Vince, though. Since Vince won, though, you would think he'd go ahead with the revival, but I suppose he's lost interest.

Hardys vs The Rockers would be another fantasy match I'd like to have seen.

[Brett H.]

I'd have liked to have seen Eddie Gilbert Vs. Kamala. Hell, it probably happened somewhere. Maybe down in Memphis...

Eddie's the best worker no one talks about. The shades don't lie.

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[On a Pale Horse]

Speaking of rip offs, do you guys think Sid Justice was originally supposed to be the next Hulk Hogan? It seemed like they were pushing that, then when it didnt work they made him into Psycho Sid instead. Unless that was there plan all along, I dont know. WWF did love the plot where Hogans buddy would turn on him (Beefcake, Savage, Sid etc)

[Uncle Hoody]

Beefcake didn't turn on Hogan until WCW.

[On a Pale Horse]

My bad. Then there was also Andrew the Giant, and kind of Ultimate Warrior, but that was more of a face vs face one time match.

[WesReviews]

Man, when I was little, I was a huge Beefcake fan for some reason. I think it's because he had those "blades" on his long gloves, and I must've thought it was cool. He got a decent sized push with the IC belt.

You have to kind of wonder how different some of the classic matches would've been if the WWF had adopted the "hardcore" style of wrestling that is more prevalent today. Imagine Savage/Steamboat with tables, ladders, and chairs.

Just thought of another feud that wasn't/dream match... The Great Muta vs Ricky Steamboat. In their primes, that would've been a great feud.

[Brett H.]

Those guys didn't need to be hardcore, they knew how to work.

Seriously... do people know how stupid it is for a wrestler to set up a table and throw a guy through it? Why not just drop him on the canvas or on the floor? It's absolutely insane and only the stupidest marks (ie: the big online nerds who think they know everything about wrestling) wouldn't see that. If it's used as a prop or effect or just because it's there, it's cool. But ECW was mega stupid with the tables shit. If someone goes through a table, it should already be set up and should just happen. If it's a match where you gotta put someone through a table to win, then that's fine. Plus, it fucks up everything else when a chair shot in the title match ends it 1-2-3 and in the opening hardcore imbecile match, the jobber no sold it.

[WesReviews]

Looking back on another feud/angle that wasn't... it's a shame that Flair didn't come to the WWF earlier. It would've been interesting to see who the fourth Horseman would've been, aside from Flair and the Brainbusters. Perhaps Mr. Perfect? Dibiase? Martel? Rude? Any of those four would've been worthy candidates, I think.

[Uncle Hoody]

Giant Gonzales vs Yokozuna.


Maybe they'll have a feud in wrestler heaven...

[The Dream Master]

As far as Flair's WWF run goes, I have no idea what Vince was smoking by not doing Hogan/Flair at a Wrestlemania. Bad timing and the fact that Flair wasn't there long played a big role in that, I guess. I bet if Flair had stuck around longer, he would have fought Hogan and Wrestlemania IX.

[WesReviews]

As far as Flair's WWF run goes, I have no idea what Vince was smoking by not doing Hogan/Flair at a Wrestlemania. Bad timing and the fact that Flair wasn't there long played a big role in that, I guess. I bet if Flair had stuck around longer, he would have fought Hogan and Wrestlemania IX.

Maybe by that point, neither wanted to job to the other... and so to avoid the whole headache, perhaps Vince just didn't give much thought to Hogan/Flair at the time.

[The Dream Master]

Vince would have had to give it thought; if not, he's definitely not the big time genius everyone wants him to be. I have no doubt that the issue of jobbing would have come up...but Flair would have jobbed, no doubt. The dude has lost more matches than he's won. He would have done it without issue because Ric Flair is a good worker that knows what the business is all about.

Flair vs Hogan at Wrestlemania IX would have been HUGE.

[WesReviews]

Flair vs Hogan at Wrestlemania IX would have been HUGE.
Most definitely. And can you imagine all the Hogan vs Horsemen stuff that would've lead up to it? Would have been EPIC.

[Uncle Hoody]

Up to that point, I'm pretty sure no Wrestlemania had ended with a heel winning, so Flair jobbing would have been a no brainer - though if egos came in to play, double countout/dq?

WMI- Hogan/Mr. T beat Piper/Orndorff
WM2- Hogan beat KKB
WM3- Hogan Beat Andre the Giant
WM4- Hogan beat.....wait....I mean Savage beat Dibiase
WM5 Hogan Beat Savage
WM6 Hogan LOST to Ultimate Warrior (face vs face)
WM7 Hogan Beat Sgt. Slaughter
WM8 Dual main event- Hogan over Sid/dq, Savage over Flair title
WM9 Yokozuna over Bret Hart BUT Hogan then beat Yokozuna to have a face going over.

Pretty sure WM2000 (16) was the first time a heel won the main event outright.

WMX Bret Hart over Yokozuna
WM11 Diesel over Shawn Michaels, LT over Bam Bam Bigelow
WM12 Shawn Michaels over Bret Hart (face vs face)
WM13 Undertaker over Sid
WM14 Steve Austin (face at that point) over Shawn Michaels
WM15 Steve Austin over The Rock
WM2000- HHH (heell) over The Rock, Mick Foley, and The Big Show

[WesReviews]

Wow, I'd forgotten Bam Bam was in a WM main event. Pretty weak.

[WesReviews]

How about... The Outsiders vs. The Skyscrapers.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/o/outsiders/06.jpg

http://pic.shuaijiao.com/images/pg1/3crapers_07.jpg

And a fantasy feud that could've been great... think of how awesome it would've been to have the Freebirds raising hell against Hulkamania back in the mid-late 80s. Maybe Freebirds vs Megapowers at one point.

[Ron]

Stonecold Steve Austin vs. Goldberg

[Darth Reaper]

One match that I wouldn't have minded seeing would have been King Kong Bundy vs. Andre The Giant. I'm surprised it never happened.

[nottidelterrore]

Guys that should've had title runs... Piper (I know he was an IC champ but he was too good of a heel to not be given a legit world title run) He did feud with Hogan in many title shots, (and technically never lost) but he also didn't win the belt from Hogan. He could've been the WWF's answer to Flair (and in many ways, he was) but unfortunately, Vince never saw fit to give him the world title.

DiBiase... pretty much the same. One of the all-time great heels, and his matches were almost always solid.

Hennig... this guy was so good in the ring, he made Hogan look halfway decent (growing up, I was a total Hulkamaniac, but looking back, his ring skills were pretty much nil.)

I actually came here to post these three guys. Three of the all-time best ever...and no WWF World Title runs. A goddamn shame too.

[Brett H.]

Curt Hennig was AWA World's Champion for over a year during his stint.

[The Dark Vampire]

Apparently DiBiase was going to win it but then Honkey Tonk refused to job to Macho Man and give him the IC title so Vince made Macho The WWE (F)Champion instead (I think Macho was still going to get a run as Champ but he just got it a bit sooner)

DiBiase was going to win the big WM4 tordy

[ShinobiMusashi]

Owen Hart was the first thing to come to my mind when reading this thread title. There wasn't much they could do with him in the booking at the time he died(still could have done better than the Blue Blazer), but had he been around later on, I think he could have been used as a heel in some great fueds.

Would have loved to see him play the heel in fueds with the Radikals that came in the next year(Saturn, Eddie, Benoit, Malenko), and some of the ECW guys that came over in 2001. He would have done some great work with RVD, Dreamer, and Lance Storm(would have been a sweet heel tag partner for Owen) I bet. Also would have loved to have seen him work with Jericho.

[The Dark Vampire]

A few weeks before Owen died I recall reading he was on the short-list to win the WWE(F) Championship at the end of the year.

Jericho said in his book it was a dream of his for years to form a tag team with Owen even going as far to draw pictures of himself and Owen as Tag Team Champions

[WesReviews]

Jericho said in his book it was a dream of his for years to form a tag team with Owen even going as far to draw pictures of himself and Owen as Tag Team Champions
That would've been pretty awesome. I wonder what their team name would've been?

[Ron]

Hopefully more creative than JerichOwen:duh:

[nottidelterrore]

Pairing Owen up with Jericho would've been amazing. And Storm. Not to mention if they feuded, the matches they would've put on. Benoit and Owen would've been pretty damn awesome too.

I've always wanted to see Booker T and R-Truth have a feud. Better yet, Harlem Heat Booker T. Holy shit.