WHAT IF? | Wrestling's Greatest Missed Opportunities
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- WHAT IF? | Wrestling's Greatest Missed Opportunities
Sometimes in wrestling, an idea or an opportunity with fall in a booker’s lap that seems like it can’t help but be a home run. Take the rise of Hulk Hogan in the 80’s Austin vs. McMahon in the 90’s, or more recently, Cody Rhodes jump from AEW to WWE earlier this year. That said, sometimes such ideas will end up being a miss. And while this can happen for a variety of reasons, it doesn’t change the fact that they represent some of the most frustrating moments to look back on now as we all wonder what might have been. So, join us today then as we look at some of the most infamous of them all in What If?: Wrestling’s Greatest Missed Opportunities.
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JAYDEGARROW
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Thanks for watching, what we lists should we have in future videos? Also, make sure to drop a like to help get the video picked up by TH-cam’s algorithm 💪🏻👊🏻🤘🏻
Now do MVP
Please do video & review WWF in 1990s Please do video & Review in WWF in 1990s
Please do & Review please do & please
#WWF in 1990s
Reply to Wrestler with Andy
@@teizhanmcfall938 Errr. Please? Or Could you do XXX. Then a thank you.. manners cost nothing.
@@shamnashamnaahamadshareef7130 dude he's up to 1999 already...
List about the most agile big men!
The sad thing is DDP had guarantee contracts too, but he forgo the guarantee contract to stay at home like many other wrestler. He wanted to show WWE that he was willing to play ball with them, and got screwed for doing it.
Just life teaching us once again to never help people unless they've showed you who they really are
@@ultimoyt0life lesson
The biggest “what if” for me is: What if DX had gotten into the building when WCW Nitro was going on when they invaded it in April 1998
Seriously, if Bischoff had said ''let em in'' Nitro would've won the ratings for the night, at a minimum.
apparently there was several wcw wrestlers that really wanted to open the door but it was bischoff who stopped it
@@itsjustjoniel but is there a actual truth ?
if they let them in they'd be facing Lawsuit by Vince. if they used any of the character names on the show. Or if anything happened. Also I believe had they opened the doors they wouldn't have gone inside.
Fr
Couldn’t have released this at a better time. I drive my personal car for Amazon. My tire has damn near fallen off. Now my girlfriend, and myself. We are stuck on the side of the road. Just waiting on a tow back home. Thanks for keeping me entertained!!! Lol, love what ya do, keep it up!!!
Appreciate it man hope you get home safe 💪🏻🤘🏻
I hope you made it out of there!👍
I hope you and your missus made it home safe
@@WRESTLEWITHANDY I’m tired of wrestling fans talking about Cena turning heel and nexus being a winning summerslam 2010 that shouldn’t ever been thought of Cena needed that win after losing 6 straight summerslams before that he needed that win more then nexus
Wow that's crazy
What if they actually respected DDP and let him do his thing instead of making him a creepy stalker? They missed such an easy home run. DDP vs. Rock, peoples champ vs. people's champ would have been such an easy sell.
I've said exactly what you said for years. Peoples champ match would've been a main event for any ppv and easy sell
it felt really cringe as if it someone in Management hated DDP. It was still the time where the people from WCW were treated as jobbers but DDP was treated so much worse. They called DDP a nobody that needed to go after undertakers wife for clout. Problem was DDP is a well known motivational speaker and WCW veteran
@@orionhan2431 There was a rumor that the Undertaker himself hated him and wanted to be in a spot to bury him. I even remember JR on commentary going "Oh no, it's the teeth guy" when DDP came out once. We are talking one of WCW's top talents getting treated like a jobber.
The stalker storyline was terrible. DDP vs. Rock to see who's the true people's champ was a certainly missed opportunity.
This stalker angle would of been perfect for David Flair.
Sting vs Taker is the biggest missed dream match in wrestling history.
Man that would have been once in a lifetime match..... Definitely main event WrestleMania.... Just 1 question ❓ who would be the heel?... No matter what ic could have been fabulous
And Goldberg vs Undertaker, but in their primes.
Absolutely agree. Vince should have thrown all the money at Sting to make that happen
Sean O haire devil's advocate had so much damn potential and was a gimmick that could hold down a championship run
I heard he was constant trouble, getting in trouble outside the ring as well as being an asshole to the other guys and whatnot. A ton of people said he had potential to be huge but he wasn’t worth the headache and anytime he would get people in the office behind him he would do something to shoot himself in the foot. I’m just going by what I’ve heard in a ton of shoot interviews from different wrestlers and others behind the scenes. I think he thought he was a much bigger star than he was and a lot tougher than he was too.
@@chicken31947 yeah. It would've failed no matter what. It was done at a time when promos trumped working. He was one of my favorites in wcw for obvious reasons but at a time when it was all catchphrases and he was a guy who wasn't good on the mic. I read those vignettes took many takes to get right and that's why they were good. But when asked to perform on the spot, he just didn't have it, so they paired him with Piper. If he was around today tho. Different story.
did o haire end up being batista?
It was a great idea. As usual, it got dropped.
The guy did get some kind of push tho with wins over Eddie and even Hogan (in his mr america gimmick). With pipper as his manager there was a lot of potential but Pipper was fired after a shoot interview about Mcmahon so Sean was left without manager and fell through
I loved the Mordecai character. The reason why the WWE dropped the Mordecai character because they fired (or suspended) him for getting into a bar fight. If the WWE was unimpressed with him in-ring skills, they should have trained him before the debut of the Mordecai character.
Well the deadman undertaker had just returned. It was also a ripoff of vegal from ghostbusters lol. He was also using Scott halls razors edge
Finally I’m not the only one 🥴
Didn't he come back as a vampire?
If they had placed Mordecai on Raw instead of Smackdown (which I believe Undertaker was still featured) or debuted the character on the ECW brand it may have worked. Overall the move sets of the Undertaker and Mordecai were not even close. If they really wanted the character to get over it should have been that Mordecai was a disciple of the Undertaker who eventually turns on him.
@@danielrierson6683 You mean Vigo The Carpathian?
Mordecai was more like the Mordecai from children of the corn I assumed that's why Vince gave him that name
What if indeed...it honestly could've gone so many ways in wrestling...it just take one moment for things to change... Awesome topic though 👌🏻🔥
Biggest missed opportunity for me is what if WWE kept Bret instead of letting him go to WCW. He still had a few years left in him, could have rivaled Austin, Foley, Rock etc and by 99 a certain Kurt Angle would have made a few masterpieces in the ring
Also, we'd most likely still have Owen with us as well
Man, Bret Hart vs. Kurt Angle would’ve been great.👍
@@evanabbott2737 not wrong mate
The Austin/Bret thing had run it's course by then though.
@@Rockhound6165 far from it really, had a lot more to offer. Austin v Rock was on and off for 6 year's so there was definitely more room for storytelling between Bret and Austin
@@only1icon1801 so you're saying you know better than Austin because Austin himself said that the Austin/Bret angle had run it's course and that his match with Bret at WM13 didn't make much sense. Of course the match helped launch Austin into the stratosphere but the match was literally out of the blue when it happened and Austin said to him setting that match up was a headscratcher.
Sean O’haire and Mike Awesome were two of WWE’s biggest missed opportunities in my opinion.
Awesome was the Brock Lesnar mould before Brock was a thing, and if either of those were paired with Heyman they would have been money
Heyman treated Awesome like absolute shit in ECW.
I liked both guys. Most people hated it but, That 70s Guy Mike Awesome used to crack me up...
Kazarni was another one of those what if..
Yeah Awesome got the shit end of the stick. Would've done well even if they had him as the Gladiator
Holy shit, this was in my recommended section and it certainly did not disappoint. Very well done!
Sting-taker really is a huge shame. That program could have been amazing. And it could have happend instead of hhh vs sting
Taker vs Sting could of probably had the same reaction hogan vs rock at mania 18 got....I hated the sting vs hhh angle, guess it was the nail in the coffin to hhh going over all the top WCW guys, I still put Austin, Rock and taker ahead of him...dnt care how many times he was world champion
Hogan vs Flair should've happened at Wrestlemania VII. The biggest mistake was putting them together on the house show circuit. Vince should've held it off until Wrestlemania. Basically Wrestlemania should've been their *first* meeting. It worked with the Rock and John Cena.
House show circuit was also where Owen Hart becoming champion was completely nixed. They had that old school, carnival wrestling mentality of using ticket sales, butts in seats, and crowd reaction, to dictate the booking and story angles they'd take on TV and PPV's
@@mrrodriguezHLP then why it lack of expactations ?
Sting vs The Undertaker is very frustrating. Sting finally signed with WWE in 2014 and was in pretty good shape. He could have easily worked with The Undertaker at WM 31 but no! We got HHH vs Sting in a very underwhelming bout while Taker buried poor Bray. What was Vince thinking?!
At least Shawn vs Eddie not happening at WM 22 had an excuse, with Eddie tragically passing away in 2005. Latino Heat vs Heartbreak Kid would have been amazing.
Vince didn't think Sting v Undertaker would draw.
Vince is crazy. And an idiot.
@@FlyBoyEnterprises vince doesn't know what draws anymore
Muhammed Hassan is a good “What If” story too imo
It was basically bad timing due to real life events and major money could’ve been made with the character
Sean O'Haire had a very interesting gimmick it was like a Devils advocate or something looked pretty cool and seems he liked it a lot cause you could tell he was living it and playing it well. A man the use your desires against you. Or gives you what you wish atvl the cost of something you never told you want to lose. But in WWE fashion it went down the drain.
It’s Sean’s fault. He kept getting in fights and would forget his promos
Imo O’Haire should’ve been put on Raw and paired with Hunter and Evolution.
Triple H
Ric Flair
Batista
Randy Orton
Sean O’Haire
Nah, Batista should’ve always had role that role.
@@jakegrenard682 I didn’t say Batista shouldn’t of had that role. Just that Evolution be a stable of 5 and they could of push O’Haire to be another star.
@@nu-metalfan2654 honestly? I know Bautista either replaced Mark Jindrak or they dropped him. I always liked Jindrak and tbh I would've taken anybody over Bautista even if I never saw the appeal of O'Haire personally I can understand why people would like his gimmick.
Sean O'Haire suffered the most from the collapse of WCW, He would have been their World Champion by 2002 in my opinion
Sean O'Haire was one of my favorite wrestlers. He had everything. Size, charisma, he could work, he looked exactly like what Vince wanted in a wrestler. They should have pushed him more than they did.
He couldn't cut a promo
@@clevercode30 Who bloody cares? Khali didn't cut great promos and Vince pushed him to the moon
@@zemox2534 yeah I don't understand why they couldn't push him further
@@zemox2534 true BUT Khali made up for it by bringing them a HUGE market in India. can't say the same for O'Hair.
What if shelton benjamin won the wwe title?
He never had the mic skills or gimmick to pull that off.
@@dukes1993724 the "gReAt" khali had neither mic skills or wrestling skills yet he was a world champ and inducted into the hall of fame, any argument you have is invalid.
@@BaLLHands87 He also was a Freak of Nature stature wise. Same idea as Andre the Giant & Big Show. I liked Shelton but he didn’t stand out enough to warrant being The Champ.
@@dukes1993724 BS! Did you not see his performance in all the money in the bank matches he took part in or his great match against Shawn Michaels?! If they have given him a manager, who wouldn't need to waste his time talking. Shelton is an amazing wrestling being wasted in a company that doesn't care about wrestling!
@@zemox2534 There are a lot of entertaining and technical wrestlers that were never made champ. You need to either be really big or at least be decent with mic skills to have a chance. Sorry buts that’s how it is
That Nexus beatdown was incredible -- One of the best visuals ever. Thanks a lot "Big Match John"
Failing to have DDP Vs. The Rock is another big missed opportunity.
DDP vs Orton aka Cutter vs. Cutter Match
I'm not surprised about the heel turn of John Cena not happening because of children. Thanks for the new video though 👍🏻
"Won't someone please think of the children!" He said while remembering his biggest growth in popularity was when the Rattlesnake, the People's Champ, Taker and Foley ON a cage, and DX telling people to suck it, were on the top of the card.
@@mrrodriguezHLP but Cena should have turned
@@mrrodriguezHLP The Golden Era was the biggest boom in popularity not Attitude.
Not only that, Cena wanted to revamp the NWO as well during that time but...
My dream match was Austin vs Sting at Wrestlemania 18. Both guys have super loyal fanbases. I always wondered who the fans would root for more?
I would've rooted for Sting. I love Stone Cold, but in 2002, he just seemed....kind of off. If that makes any sense. Like as if he doesn't have the heart for the company anymore. Had Sting came in, WWF/E would've made him a heel or something for the WWF/E fans to hate/boo. I wouldn't cared, as long as Sting was performing at a WrestleMania. He would've been cheered by me so loud until my voice dried out, lol.
Sting was meant to come in for WrestleMania 18 and face Kurt Angle but didn’t sign because he was concerned Vince would use him as inferior to WWF/WWE guys which is exactly what happened when he did sign in 2014
Cm punk's 2011 summer was a BIG missed wrestling opportunity, the impact it could've had if executed
Can thank Paul Leveques golden shovel for that one
@@only1icon1801 yeah I also got a sledgehammer shot on my forehead to remember you paulie
Or Wrestlemania 30 match
What about Hade Vansen? Guy was cutting some dark promos to lead up to a feud with Taker. Then Vince saw how big he was, didn’t think he could square up to Taker, and fired him.
So dumb for him to do that
And then he took on notoriously massive HBK and had one of the best matches of all time.
I love how you put the Devils Advocate front and center, that gimmick would’ve been gold.
I was really looking forward to Mordecai making his way to The Undertaker. That would've been a good feud/rivalry.
@Austin's Wrestling Channel I actually enjoyed his vampire gimmick. And Ariel (Shelly Martinez) is freaking hot as hell. I knew that his planned rivalry with The Undertaker was scrapped, so I was kind of also hoping that WWECW would at least make him their Main Event heel and eventually winning the ECW World Championship. Never happened. That sucked.
WWE had a second shot at turning Cena heel around the time of the Authority storyline.
What I wouldve done is after he tied Flair's record and subsequently losing the title a few weeks later I wouldve had Cena do anything to try and break the record by challenging everyone who had title shots for their title opportunity (either WWE or Universal title) and failing every time, eventually after a couple months of failure it turned into frustration and being hellbent on winning at all costs, even aligning himself with the Authority for guaranteed title matches.
It wouldve been about a year long storyline culminating at WM with another loss, the Authority would then chastise Cena which would then have him turn face, delivering an AA to HHH and Nikki Bella (who was still with at the time) coming down to fight Stephanie, they both leave waving to the crowd and Cena begins his part time status.
What if macho man becomes the top star instead of hulk hogan I always wonder
I don't think Savage would pull the kind of money Hogan did, but I believe you get a lot of better main events and a lot more guys becoming bigger stars because of no politics. Guys like Dibiase, Jake "The Snake", Rick Rude and Mr. Perfect would all be Champion imo.
@@blkd25 fr, so many people will get to shine way brighter
@@blkd25 Savage was a better wrestler all around than hogan.
dream match i want see is was sting vs undertaker
My dream match was stone cold steave Austin vs John cena
Honourable mention: Rock vs HBK
I think Gangrel mainly failed as a character because the fans felt like he was too much of an Undertaker rip off.
Another superb upload Andy.
Soon on your way to that 200k.. and many many more to follow.
Hogan vs Flair at 8 and Sting vs Taker at 31 are the biggest missed ops in mania history.... Dont care what anyone says if they did Hogan v Flair at WRESTLEMANIA it would have worked with that mania electricity
Neat thing about that mania was the return or technically hometown boy the ultimate warrior. I was there and geeked the f out when his music hit
@@talaann1 my dad was pumped when warriors music hit, Me? A little to close too mania 6 to forgive warrior. Which still remains one of the worst days of my life… then Wm18 happened and as I drove home with real America playing and a tear in my eye I wasn’t ready to see the whole world around me change… blue M & Ms we’re introduced. Blue was my favorite color. I wasn’t happy NO The dumb Rock just beat Hulk Hogan. If my dads friends were there that night like they were at mania6 breakin my b’s about how “hogans done” and “hogans a fig” I probably would have pulled out the jammy and flat blasted both of’em…. Hulkamania will live forever lol
I actually think the devils advocate would work very well as a current character I love to see the ex Dexter Lumis, Samuel Robert Shaw do that same character I think work great for him
The two biggest what-ifs that I can think of are the Superstar Mordecai and also the dream match between Sting and Undertaker. How on Earth did Vince McMahon for several years drop the ball on Sting versus Taker? Mordecai versus taker would have been a great potential main event. I remember his debut on Smackdown very clearly and even asked after a couple weeks LOL
The biggest missed opportunity was friar ferguson. He could’ve been a great heel and fought undertaker, but they changed him to bastion booger and jobbed him out instead. Papa shango was another good idea they handled poorly. And Hakushi was a talented wrestler who never got his due.
I think a missed opportunity was an extended feud between Steamboat and Savage.
During the following wrestlemania they could've had Savage go over Steamboat in the tournament setting up a steel cage title match in the future.
This is a real cool segment. Creative
I'm personally glad Hogan never wrestled Flair. Because Hogan sucked. Bum wrestler with bum moves. Flair wasn't super amazing at wrestling, but that man IS wrestling. He's given so much to the industry. Hogan would have schemed to never let Flair beat him.
Hulk Hogan was mediocre at best and loved to ride his scripted laurels. Screw him.
PS. Great video, Andy. Always watch these when they first drop 🤘
Edit: before anyone says it, I'm talking WCW vs WWF Flair vs Hogan.
Muhammad Hassan was one of biggest missed opportunities for the WWE.
Hassan had genuine white hot heat during his brief run with the Undertaker.
He was going to eventually be champion but they stupidly ran with the terrorist angle which was silly only because Hassan's beef was that he was not a terrorist.
Good video
Retribution was a missed opportunity too. It was interesting at first but at the end they were just Jobbers beating Ricochet.
you are right about the missed opportunity of the Invasion storyline but it did get people watch every week. Austin going over to the alliance gave something to watch. The Bros of destruction getting the wcw tag titles, edge winning the US title, and the inclusion of ECW sold it. the timing of Rocky coming back to face Booker T was the right moment. I even remember senior ref Nick Patrick and Earl Hebner going at it, being included in a match did made some good tv. all in all, I love the Invasion storyline. Survivor series hype videos with the creed song was one of the best videos Ive seen.
In 1993, in universe 7_22_F, Bret Hart would save a roofied Shawn Michaels from two pimps during that years Royal Rumble.
Two pimps recognized Michaels at a bar and planned on robbing him by having one of their girls flirt with Michaels, spike his drink and get him to step into the ally way with her, where they would be waiting with knives.
Bret Hart saw the girl pulling Michael toward a back exit and had a weird feeling about it. When he stepped out to make sure everything was okay, he saw Michaels on all four, trying to catch his breath.
The pimps were kicking him before Hart stepped in, snapping one man's arm in half and breaking the others nose and eye socket.
Michaels would never forget what Hart did for him, and his respect would deepen when the two were chosen to headline wrestlemania 12. Hart, of course, was happy to put Michaels over, which Michaels truly felt honored about.
The two would have a instant classic in their 60 min iron man match. It would go into overtime as well, and Michaels would win the title with a super kick.
After the match, Michaels would noticeably whisper something to Hart, which would respond a no from Hart before Hart rolled out of the ring.
"it was Shawn's moment, you know?" Hart later said. "I got a lot of heat, not shaking his hand after. We felt this was too special for one match. We wanted it to be left unresolved. I know he wanted me to stay inside, that's what he asked. He said, please stay with me. And I felt honored. I wanted to stay kayfabe but at the same time I felt he earned that title. I wanted him to have that moment. He earned it. Just him. That night, that ring was his and his alone. So I rolled out and acted like I have been cheated with the over time thing. I looked mad but I was proud."
Shawn would hug Hart after the match, thanking him.
Many would credit Hart as being Michaels compass. They would stay in contact while Shawn toured as Champion. Hart would guide Michaels and advise him on his matches, keeping him grounded with Shawn felt overwhelmed.
The two would come up with the idea of making Bret vs Shawn more of a war between two entire nations. Bret suggested pairing Michaels with Hunter and changing his name to Triple H. The two were actual friends and Vince loved it. Shawn would suggest bringing back the Hart Foundation with the British Bulldog and Owen Hart and the two groups could fued.
Vince felt Michaels group needed more members after it was planned that Jim Knighthart would also join the Hart foundation.
Triple H suggested bringing in a female body builder which they did; Chyna.
Michaels would also bring back Marty Jannetty, now just known as Jennetty and the four would form D-X.
Michaels vs Hart 2 was another Iron Man match that headlined wrestlemania 13. As the last ten minutes began to count down, the score was Michaels 2 Hart 1.
Hart would hit a headbutt from the top rope, bursting opening his head. He would get a pin in Michaels, tying the match, but would end up concussed from the pump. Shawn walked Hart through the final ten minutes, making Hart look like a star.
During the final seconds, Michaels would tap at the sharpshooter and Bret, face dripping in blood, would be the new Champion.
Sadly Bret would forfeit the title two months later to heal from his injuries. Shawn was burned out from being champion, and a tournament would crown Stone Cold Steve Austin as the new champion.
Shawn and Bret wouldn't meet again until Wrestlemania 14, where the two would put on what people say is the best ladder match ever to have taken place. Shawn would win the match and the two would officially end their fued with a hug in the ring.
Can you make documentary about these superstars
1.Christopher Daniels
2.James Storm
3.Sami Callahan
4.Moose
5.Chris Sabin
6.Eric Young
Also Stories of Wrestling Greatest tag teams:
1.The Briscoes
2.ReDragon
3.The Good Brothers
4.Motor City Machine Guns
5.The Kingdom
@@umerfarooq8514 those are jobbers
Usos new day hardys daudroy boys are the best
I honestly believe Alicia Fox was a missed opportunity as well. When she had that “mini feud” with Paige she was getting reactions from the crowd when she started acting crazy after the match. Alicia’s “mini feud” with Beth Phoenix, she also got reactions from the crowd during that time. The WWE dropped the ball with her, big time. But, that’s no surprise. They don’t care about talent.
It's fun to speculate on what might have been with those could have been stars, but I guess in the end, there can only be so many stars and for every "what if" out there, there's a star who rose who would not have if one of the "what Ifs" had rose in his/her place. If Sean O'Hare had risen, maybe Rotunda would have been the "what if" and Bray Wyatt would never even have even been an idea.
It's not too late, but WWE could make Ricochet the modern day Rey Mysterio if they go after it.
FACTS.
Awesome video Joe but I have to correct you on the Nexus Myth.
According to Jericho's third book The Best In The World Of What I Have No Idea, he said that Vince McMahon booked Nexus to lose. What he, Edge & Cena were discussing was HOW the Nexus were going to lose. Which is what they mentioned on the podcast.
The Hogan vs Flair WM 8 match I remember after the Rumble thats what I thought it would be and it didnt happen. Never knew at the time that would be Hogan's last match or he would be gone for a while filming a tv show. The hogan / sid match was pretty crappy but I wasn't too bothered hogan / flair never happened. Just seemed like hogan would win easily and if that match had happened Hogan would have won by dq as he was off for a while after that match so he couldnt win the belt. And the invasion storyline I totally agree and its a shame we never got that. Undertaker vs Sting, shame we never got that or Goldberg vs Taker in 2003. Bret Hart vs Kurt Angle is a dream match we all wish we could have had.
But by this point the roster was deminishing.
Ngl, I kinda hoped, after the first failed Cena heel turn vs The Rock, that Bray Wyatt would finally be the one to "Embrace Hate", sadly, Big Match John bamboozled us again.
Even though that wasn't the intended effect, John was basically the heel in the Zack Ryder/Eve/Kane storyline in late 2011 through early 2012.
@@BmanTheChamp Maybe that was a test
Here's some other missed opportunities here:
1. Razor Ramon vs. Jake the Snake: Had Jake not fallen for the WCW contract that went south, those guys would've been great together. Not only would this be a solid angle, but I could see it ending with those 2 working together. Much better than Razor and 1-2-3 Kid.
2. Wendi Richter vs. Sherri Martel: If not for that screwjob, it'd be a solid angle. Also an angle with Luna would only make things more interesting.
3. Alundra Blayze vs. Sherri Martel: Resurrecting the old AWA rivalry would be something to see if not for the BS reason Vince fired Sherri (this is from what I was told) and would've made things more interesting
4. Chyna vs. other female talent of the time (not counting Trish Stratus, but Ivory, Jacqueline, and maybe Tori): Might've convinced Chyna that she had competition among her own sex.
5. Just letting Luger run wild with the Narcissist gimmick: Might've had a better run that way and may have turned face in a more natural manner
6. Letting Macho Man and Roddy Piper give what they could after 1992: Would have only made the 1990s more solid and Savage might have made a good sucessor to Hogan and Piper might've had a championship run
7. Warrior not no showing: Might've been good at least till the end of the New Gen era.
Also in regards to the "invasion", they should've just dealt with ECW the same way they did back in 1997, with a few improvements (Even better with Sabu among others) while waiting for those WCW contracts to expire. They also should have brought back more of the solid old gimmicks (Make Nash Diesel again and Hall Razor for example). It's too bad we couldn't see Macho Man and Hitman being in this too (Yeah I know why they weren't there sadly, but their presence would've been much better than say Mae and Moolah Young amongst the lame characters that appeared). This is just my take.
A big What If: WWE Smackdown becoming WCW Nitro after Vince McMahon's purchase of WCW
Believe it or not one of those house shows did so out where I live and I did get to see hulk Hogan versus Ric flair in person
The biggest mistake with the Invasion was it should have happened in 2002 instead of 2001. Had they waited just a year later, we could have all had the nWo, Goldberg, Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Brock Lesnar all be a part of it in some capacity and it would have made for really entertaining television.
♥️ it Andy, Keep up the good work 💯💯💯
Looking back, Hogan probably didnt wanna put Flair over.. as evidenced by the fact that he barely ever did, despite all their matches after.. and you know Vince would have wanted him to, given the push he was giving Flair at the time..
This is probably the rivalry I hated the most in wrestling history...flair never got over whether hogan was heel or face, he would lose all the big matches..WCW pretty much kicked flair to the curb for hogan then let's not start on the nwo angle
Crazy he would work with Flair but thought Hart was too small
Did Hogan have to put him over?
i love your content i even now wrestle because of some of your content
Awesome man, appreciate the support, hope your wrestling has been going well 💪🏻🤘🏻
thank you so much andy one day all show you all be on wwe its my dream and i hope yell see me in wwe as a star thank you for commenting
@@WRESTLEWITHANDY it is thank you have a great day love your content keep it up but im still young but all be there oneday keep your work up and have a greatday you made my day
They should have kept WCW. From a business point of view, this was Vince's worst decision to bury it. There was so much unbelievable story lines. It was like having DC vs Marvel.
That was the original plan. Keep wcw as a separate entity and have cross over paper views thru the year. But they'd have had to come up with entirely new TV deals and still deal with those contract issues.
Personally, I'd rather see them wait for the invasion. If you can't have the big names just wait. Explain it as is. They have contracts that don't allow them to immediately wrestle. Have the big names invade, bring all the guys who integrated into the wwe to their side and take over
Another great one buck
I think they didn't want Cena to be a bad example for the kids watching. Or maybe since Stone Cold says his heel turn never should've happened, they tought Cena should stay a Face
Too bad CM Punk never got his Wrestlemania Main Event, he totally deserved it
That's the initial reason why Vince got cold feet because he didn't want a repeat of Austin 2001. But the irony is that Cena and Austin situations were different.
Austin still had popularity to remain a face. Had he waited one more year the heel turn could've worked. Cena however was stale by 2011 so him turning heel would refreshed his character
Maybe he could've reverted back to Doctor of Thuganomics, and gotten himself a couple of thugs to form a stable
You finally answered the question I had all these years and it was hade vansen. When I watched it live I was scared and wasn't sure if it was WWE related
I definitely would've added Stone Cold vs Hulk Hogan on this list. It really sucks we never got a match between the two biggest draws and faces of the company in WWE history at WM.
I also really hate they didn't go through with Chyna vs Austin. Imagine her being the first female to main event a PPV and winning the world by pinning Stone Cold of all people. Would've been amazing.
Great video, Andy. I feel like there could be a part 2 of this. Like how you mentioned with Nexus, what if WWE strapped a rocket on Bray Wyatt? He could've been a megastar, without a doubt.
One last thing, what the heck happened to Hade Vansen? Did he get fired and never wrestled again or what? Where did he go?
You have some nice segues into other talking segments. Very nice, my man.
What if Marks didn’t exist? Wrestling would be fine and not cringe
All fans are marks. It's old carnie-speak for someone that could be bilked for their money. A guy operating one of the game stalls at a carnival might see someone walking in his direction and say to the guy in the stall next to him "Watch as I work that mark" before calling "Hey, mister, you look like a man with good aim, come play for a prize!"
The mark is the target. If you enjoy pro wrestling and have supported the biz in any way, I'm sorry to break it to you but you're a mark. And so am I. If marks did not exist, neither would pro wrestling.
Now, fans calling fans marks - THAT is some cringeworthy shit.
@@ryancorrigan4149 Even Al Snow said in a shoot interview:
"Calling a fan a Mark isn't an insult. But you know what is an insult? Smarks because they think that their in the know but they are not."
Of course I'm paraphrasing here but basically that is what he meant.
“Both men were past their prime”
As flair flips over the turnbuckle 6:26
The Mordecai character would have been a perfect match for the Undertaker
we need a part 2 pls
It wasn’t listed here but Raven’s seven sins gimmick had potential for a nice mid card championship run.
Freddie Prinze, Jr., claimed they dropped Hade Vansen because HHH remarked he looked like the guy that cut his grass. That got everybody in the production meeting laughing, including Vince, who was high on Vansen to a point. After that, no one backstage took him seriously.
Is that for real? That's messed up
@@lancethefilmguy9392 It's the report I heard and he said it on his podcast.
I remember the first time seeing a Mordecai vignette -- I knew exactly where it was heading to the Undertaker. Woulda been awesome
Out of all of the greatest missed opportunities and there's a lot of them, the one that I definitely feel got away was the whole invasion angle with the lack of involvement of the big names, it would have worked out so much better if we had all of those WCW guys like Goldberg, Sting, NWO to name a few, the only ones we got was Booker T and DD plus the booking / execution was done very poorly. If WWE waited at least a year then things might have turned out differently.
Side note: John Cena turning heel with the right booking and execution would have done very big business not to mention the nuclear heat would have been epic but sadly it never happened. Truly a huge missed opportunity
I honestly never thought of Sting v Taker, I mean now having heard it and the reasons why it would have been a dream match it makes sense. That Mordecai character though was doomed from the start, there was no way he could hold a candle to Taker, he just wasn't physically imposing enough. The reason why Kane v Taker works is because Kane was imposing arguably more so than Taker so basically having a carbon copy of Taker worked. But that Mordecai could barely hang on the mid card there was 0 chance he would have made it to upper card/ main event status, essentially my point is the thing could have worked (as demonstrated with Shawn Michaels in his heavenly gear v Taker in his some of his Darkest gear) if they had picked a different guy either one that was on the same level as Kane or better or have some program with someone like Shawn, because I don't think there was much build up for those to be their entrances.
According to Freddie Prince Jr Hade Vansen got the boot because HHH said to Mcmahon in a creatives meeting that Hade looks like the guy who mows his lawn.
You want to know what really happened with the Sting vs Undertaker dream match? Instead of giving the fans what they wanted, Vince decided to feed his own ego and relive the Monday Night wars one last time by having his son in law, Triple H, bury Sting. Another What if? in WWE is the character Muhammad Hassan. The character and his feud with the Undertaker were scrapped after the London bombings in July 2005.
Undertaker vs Nailz at WM9 was another great missed opportunity.
Cena's missed heel turn makes me sad to this day
O’haire vs Batista or Lesnar was a huge missed opportunity
Sean O'haire vs bill Goldberg (unless they already faced each other in WCW)
I wanted to watch Bret vs ultimate warrior, stone cold vs ultimate warrior, shawn vs ultimate warrior, sycho sid vs ultimate warrior & Shawn vs Marc Mero at year 1996... Guess who screw my dream matches...!?!? Yes... It was wwf management & James Helwig The Ultimate warrior himself 😄😇😂🖐🏽
Pretty sure Warrior/Sid happened on the house show circuit in 1992 post WrestleMania 8 before Sid left the company.
@@My19812011 Sid left because Warrior wouldn`t go ovder for him.
Also many people do not know this but Vince McMahon does in fact have a brother named Roderick McMahon. And rumor has it that he was either going to be the one behind the limousine explosion or he was going to take the place of Vince as the CEO of the WWE.
All these years later I still get pissed when I hear the name Sean O'Haire, he could have done so much for the company / business. More than Cena and Lesnar combined but Vince pissed him away. RIP Sean O'Haire
Also I remember that Hade Vanson vignette and never seeing another hahaha
This is well done, ty.
The problem with angles like Nexus, is you need the top guys to do the JOB to make them credible. Ego’s get in the way so its up to the boss to have the final say. Problem is with so many of the ego’s “backstage politicking” McMahon tends to let them whisper in his ear.
Would drop Mordecai from this list for Monty Brown AKA Marcus Cor Von. No hate for Kevin Vampire Dude, but Monty was a can't miss prospect for both TNA Impact and WWE, and it's both their losses that they failed to get a title run together for him
If we can talk about Bobby Lashley being given the ball way too early and that he wasn't ready to step up to the position the way he is now, we can talk about how the Alpha Male clearly had it from day one and both Jeff and Vince failed to realize his career potential, which also means they would never realize how much money he could have made them
Honorable Mention: The New Jack angle with John Cena! Would've been fun to watch 😆 R.I.P. TRU GANGSTA!
What if Owen wouldn’t have passed away? The Blue Blazer character was awesome and was really getting over. Still the most underrated dude ever
Austin Jumping ship during Invasion made perfect sense. It was Austin going against McMahon as always, doing whatever he can to make Vince's life difficult and give him that middle finger.
Honorable mentions:
Dolph Ziggler’s main event run
DX invasion of WCW show
Austin vs Hogan
Austin vs CM Punk
I don’t want to here anything about John Cena heel turn or the nexus I never liked the idea of Cena turning heel plus he needed that win over the nexus at summerslam 2010 after losing 6 straight summerslams he should have won
@Edge Gamer R how he was the greatest face of all time john Cena as a face literally changed the foundation an entire Generation an era till this day John Cena is the greatest face of all time
@Edge Gamer R that’s where your wrong Cena was already a heel before and plus hogan main evented 8 wrestlemanias as a face and John Cena only had 5 as a face it was you asshole fans sabotaging John Cena y’all kept bitching about Cena winning all the time forced Cena to lose matches and y’all saying he’s never put guys over Cena better then them
I heard one of the main reason for the gimmick change for Sean O’Haire was that when it came to cutting promos live, he wasn’t very good at it
Thanks, that was nice. The only i could ask for would be to get the same for worldwide independent wrestling, but that could be a bit difficult i think. .)
Not bringing the feud between Hakushi / Jinsei Shinzaki and The Undertaker was a big mistake (in my opinion). They had a match in Japan later, but Jinsei Shinzaki had not the White Angel gimmick from WWE there and played a role as a zombie. Because of that the match was interesting, but not really a good one. WWE missed there something very special and nice.
Why the block out censorship when speaking about the lance storm run in at @2:10 ?
The main reason Invasion failed was not lack of major WCW talent. The main reason it failed was because it was NEVER about WCW and ECW vs WWF. It was all about Shane and Steph vs Vince. It did start as WCW vs WWF originally. I mean, who can possibly forget Booker T's debut in WWF when he, the top WCW star in final months, legitimately injured Steve Austin, top WWF star, in his very first move in WWF.
Sean O Haire and Mohammad Hassan are one of my biggest what ifs
There's so many possibilities of what could happen if Vince greenlit the Chyna vs Stone Cold angle as planned. Stone Cold was basically their biggest superstar. To see him lose against a woman, even if that woman was Chyna, would bring some unforeseen consequences. Either Stone Cold would lose popularity, or he managed to turn around his loss to another selling point. Because y'know, it's Stone Cold.
On the other hand, Chyna's potential victory might have pushed the revolution of WWE Women Wrestling way earlier than expected, and Vince would have more reasons to prevent Chyna from leaving.
So many possibilities.
Also, usually, when it cones to Benoit, the usual what-if question is 'what if Eddie Guerrero lived longer'. But I propose a different what if: What if Benoit never married Nancy? While he will still get into the downward spiral, he won't have a family to kill, thus I think Benoit would still be fondly remembered and inducted to the Hall of Fame, and Nancy would still be alive. But since the marriage happened way before, how would that affect Benoit's life before, would he even be in WWE at all? Would he still be friends with Eddie? So many questions.
Hogan/Studd v Andre/Bundy Hogan/Studd v Twin Towers Studd v Undertaker Bundy/Studd v Demolition Bundy/Studd Tag Title run Macho Man v Undertaker Feud Ultimate Warrior v Goldberg Kerry von Erich v Hogan Kerry Von Erich v Macho Man Kerry von Erich v Rowdy Roddy Piper Kerry von Erich v Ultimate Warrior Bam Bam Bigelow v Big Bossman Tito Santana v Steamboat Slaughter v Macho Man Iron Sheik v Nikolai Volkoff DX v NWO HBK v Rock Snuka v Steamboat
at least we get to make these dream matches a reality in our WWE2K video games