Nixed Wrestlemania Main Events

gimmick

Cant claim the credit for this, as I just saw it on another forum. Rather than put my own spin on it, here it is. Cheers to DYNAMITE from wzforums.com

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The Originally planned WrestleMania Main Events/Outcomes...

I saw something on 411mania a while back about originally planned main events for Wrestlemania. Now as this was quite a while back so i dont have the link to that page. It had things like DiBiase winning the Tourney at WM4,Hogan vs Zeus at WM6,Hogan vs Flair at WM8,and Luger vs Borga at WM10 and many others. Ive heard of other planned Mania main events which i will also add in.

Does anyone know of any others?

Ill go through all the wrestlemania's that had originally planned main events or originally planned title wwe title victories.

WrestleMania 1
Hogan vs Piper. It was going to be a one on one match at the first ever WrestleMania. Apparently it got changed to a tag match, Hogan and Mr T vs Piper and Paul Orndorff.

WrestleMania 4
The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase was supposed to win the WWE Title in a tournament. Infact it was because (one of the worst ic champs of all time)The Honky Tonk Man refused to job the IC title to The Macho Man. So in the end it worked out better for Savage because Savage ended up winning the tournament and the title. So poor Ted Dibiase got nothing and ended up as a runner up in the tournament, all because of the Honky Tonk Man. I can't believe Vince would let the Honky tonk Man determine what he was going to do with the world title.

What i have to say about this is that i like Savage and Dibiase. I like Macho Man more so im glad he won the belt, but again you have to feel sorry for Dibiase.


WrestleMania 6
There's two stories about WM 6. One says that Mr. Perfect was supposed to face Hogan. Then there's the Zeus story. Supposedly Zeus was so atrocious in the ring (understandbly so since he was an actor not a wrestler) that those plans were scrapped. Interesting to note too was that there initially were plans for a No Holds Barred sequel but that was scrapped for obvious reasons.

Prefect vs Hogan one at WM6 is one i heard of but apparently Hogan refused to face him or so the story goes..hence the match between Prefect and Beefcake

Hogan didnt want to drop the belt to Perfect. So instead Hogan just jobbed to his manager the Genius by countout sometime before WMania 6. As Hogan had nothing to lose here as The Genius wasnt any danger to him Hogan jobbed. Perfect was getting big and he was undefeated at that time.

So as Hogan didnt wanna job, instead Hogan jobbed to the Warrior. Im glad they went with that as im a Warrior fan but i do feel sorry for Mr Perfect as he also ruled. So instead Perfect jobbed and lost his undefeated streak to Hogans best buddy Brutus Beefcake at Mania 6.

So in return Perfect got the Intercontinental title, which he won in a tournament.

Regarding Perfect, he actually got the Intercontinental Title for most of 1990-1 because of his treatment by Hogan, who refused to let Perfect win the Rumble 1990 and then had his buddy Beefcake go over Perfect in high-profile manner at Wrestlemania 6.

WrestleMania 7
I heard it was going to be Hogan/Warrior 2, but im glad they went ahead with the Career Ending match, which is one of my fave WrestleMania matches ever.

WrestleMania 8
It was going to be the biggest wrestling match of all time but unfortunately it got changed. Hogan vs. Flair should have happened at WrestleMania. It's a real shame it didn't. It would have been huge. The year of 92 was awesome, and Flair/Hogan was a dream match at that time. I still enjoyed the Savage/Flair match but Hogan/Flair would have been big.


WrestleMania 9
Instead of providing commentary at WrestleMania 9, Macho Man was supposed to win the royal rumble, and go on to face Bret at Mania 9.

This would have been a classic, Savage instead was a runner up in the royal rumble 93. Many fans dislike WMania 9, i dont but Savage/Bret would have been awesome. At least Mania 9 would have then had a awesome match on the card. I cant believe the WWE didnt go ahead with this.

So it turned out to be Bret Hart vs Yokozuna(who won the rumble), and we all know what horrible moment happened at WMania 9 involving the WWE Title.


WMania 10

This one is long. This is very confusing but im glad it went the way as it originally went with Yoko going over Luger, and Bret over Yoko.

There are 2 stories about WMania 10. One was that Luger was gonna win the title, and the other was the he was supposed to face Ludwig Borga.

Luger vs Borga- WrestleMania main event? Thank God that didn't happen. Can anyone imagine the buyrate for Ludvig v. Luger? lol however It was WrestleMania, they had to go with Owen/Bret anyway at that point, and along with Razor/HBK Ladder these 2 matches would have been enough to sell the PPV.

Borga v. Luger was the original plan. The only reason it didn't happen was because Borga had the career ending ankle injury BEFORE the Royal Rumble. Borga was going to get pushed huge and the start of his big push was that he ended Tatankas undefeated streak. (I hate that moment) Then he was gonna face Tatanka in a rematch at The Rumble(borga got injured and bam bam replaced him)

If Borga didnt get injured, Luger was supposed to win the rumble and this is what i dont understand. Who beats Yokozuna for the belt to set up a Luger/Borga title match?

Its strange and confusing because Luger wasnt allowed to get a title shot against Yoko ever again, but as he won the rumble he could get the title shot. Also at that time, who ever won the rumble would face the champ at WMania, not before. If WM10 was supposed to be Borga v Luger, at what point was Luger/Borga going to take the title from Yokozuna?

Now onto Luger winning the wwe title lol!!!


Apparently Luger was supposed to beat Yoko, then lose to Bret in the same night. The story about Luger getting drunk and telling a reporter he was going to win was what I always heard........ Either he was gonna beat Yoko for the belt, and then lose the belt to Bret(by repeating a Mania 9 moment), or he was gonna win the belt of Yoko, and then beat Bret making Bret lose 2 matches at Mania 10.


Lex Lugar was supposed to win the title at WrestleMania 10 instead of Bret, but Luger got plastered and told a bunch of fans who then told others and soon, word had spread and Vince changed plans. Luger was talking about how he was going to win the title in a bar, with a reporter present. A news story was published and Vince was extremely pissed, so Luger jobbed to Yoko. Well that was awesome lol.


Also, they did a little test at the Royal Rumble that Bret and Luger co-won. They had 2 referees each side with a different guy. As they'd raise the arm of their respective wrestler the crowd would react. Unfortunately for Luger, the crowd's reaction for Bret blew his away.

Now the title change story doesn't hold up anyways, with Luger then to Hart at WM 10 because the WWF wouldn't have hot-shotted the belt, blowing a face v. face match, without turning one of them and making money off of it. Too much money for them to make for them to just squander it.

Overall im glad with the outcome of Mania 10- Owen over Bret, Yoko over Luger, Razor over Michaels and Bret over Yoko for the WWE Title.

gimmick

continued

WMania 13


Main event for WrestleMania 13 was supposed to be Bret vs Shawn rematch. They even had the two of them next to Taker and Sid on the cover of a WWF Magazine with WrestleMania 13 under the faces. It soon changed to Austin vs Bret instead. which worked out better for Austin and the WWE's future.


As for WM13. thats why HBk "lost his smile" cos he didn't wanna job to Bret. So Michaels comes out to just provide commentary for the main event.

I wanted to see Bret/Michaels again but im glad they went ahead with Bret/Austin. If Michaels didnt want to job to Bret, and he forfeited his title, why couldnt he drop the belt to The Undertaker. Taker ended up winning the belt at Mania 13 so i dont see why Michaels couldnt job in a face vs face match. WM13 is considered a horrible WMania with the exception of the Bret/Austin Classic. If Michaels faced Taker, the double main event would have been huge, probably could have went down as the best double main event in WMania history. Also WMania 13 would have been better.

If Michaels jobbed to Taker at Mania 13, then accidently hits Taker with a chair at SummerSlam 97. He could say what he did was accidental but Taker defeated him at WMania. Michaels goes heel, and starts of his feud with Taker like it originally was.


WrestleMania 14
Well it was originally planned as Bret/Austin, but we all know what happened at Survivor Series 97. From there the WWE was leading to a HBK/Austin match.
Another thing I've read was that Shawn Michaels didn't wanna face Stone Cold at WM14. When he was forced to, he didn't wanna job, and only did so because of Undertaker's Persuasion lol!!!

I dont understand why HBK does this, he lost his so called smile and refused to job the title to Bret at Mania 13, refused to job to Vader at SummerSlam 96, refused to job to Mankind at Mindgames 96, but drops to his good friend Sid. Not that i have a problem with Sid winning the belt as he is one of my favourites. Overall it was a good thing that Austin won the belt, it was a great move and good for Austin and the WWE as he was their new star.


WrestleMania 15

Rock vs Austin vs Mankind

Oh, here's another one straight from Mick Foley's book, "Foley is Good."

Foley mentions it was supposed to be Rock vs. Austin vs. Foley at WrestleMania 15 for the title, but Shawn Michaels (wow, a common theme. Go figure) convinced Vince that the WrestleMania main event HAD to be a one on one match, so as not to ruin tradition. Somehow this got through and Mick was left with the Big Show at WrestleMania.

The interesting thing is that apparently HBK wasn't lobbying for Foley to be left out of the main event, but The Rock. HBK wanted Foley vs. Austin at WM 15, but he didn't get his way and Rock vs. Austin became history.

Well im glad it was Rock/Austin, but a triple threat would have been good because Foley was in the wwe title hunt around that time.

The other interesting thing about this is that just the next year Mania 16, the main event was a Fatal Four-way Match, therefore breaking the all important "tradition" HBK insisted was needed.

And to make matters even more interesting, who do you think it was who convinced managment that WrestleMania XX NEEDED to be a triple threat for the belt? I mean, there was really no reason for Michaels to be in that match, especially if he felt so strongly about WrestleMania tradition.

Hmmmm, interesting stuff. Very interesting. Rock/Michaels could have taken place at Mania 20. Overall i was happy with the Mania 20 triple threat but HBK gets his way, well mostly gets his way.


WrestleMania 16 (2000)

It was going to be Austin vs HHH. However Austin was out with an injury for over a year. Then it was going to be HHH vs Rock in some sort of gimmick match. For some reason then the traditional one on one wwe title match was changed this year, and it was made a triple threat match, with Big Show being involved. Then Foley was added so it was a 4 way.Foley also never intended to be in the main event for WM2000. He was retired at NWO 2000, but as he never main evented at WMania he was back for this match.


WrestleMania 18


I also heard that the Mania 18 Jericho/HHH main event wasnt originally planned. HHH was gonna main event, but i heard it was gonna be HHH/Angle main event. Im not really sure about this WMania because the nwo arrived a month before this ppv. At that time i also heard it was gonna be Jericho/Angle?

Im confused about this one.


WrestleMania 19

Angle/Lesnar was originally planned, it was set in stone for Mania 19 ever since Lesnar became champ at SummerSlam 2002.

Now at least 2 weeks before WrestleMania Angle was very unlikely not to compete in the match against Lesnar due to a neck injury. So it was highly rumoured that Chris Benoit was gonna take his place. Or there were rumours going around that it would be John Cena who would face Lesnar. Angle would forfeit his title, and the title would be vacant.

I heard a different rumor for WrestleMania 19. Angle was going to drop the title to BENOIT, not Brock on Smackdown, and then they were going to go ahead with a Lesnar/Benoit main event and have Brock win.

At Wrestlemania 19, if Angle's neck was in to bad of shape, he was gonna drop the title to Brock on Smackdown. The Brock would defend his title vs. Benoit. Who would mostly turn heel.

Whatever the outcome was if Angle could not compete, it would have been Brock in the main event against Benoit or Cena.

However, Angle managed to compete, and wrestled the match against Lesnar, and the main event was on.


Also at Wrestlemania 19 the plan was to have Booker T win. It's a real shame about Booker T not winning the belt. From what I read, Booker was supposed to win the belt at WM19, but HHH convinced them the day of WM that he should retain, and away history went. I've heard it from a few places, so I'm not sure of the legitamacy, but really should've happened.


WrestleMania 20

HHH vs Benoit till Michaels came along. And to make matters even more interesting, who do you think it was who convinced managment that WrestleMania XX NEEDED to be a triple threat for the belt? I mean, there was really no reason for Michaels to be in that match, especially if he felt so strongly about WrestleMania tradition.

And that Shawn Michaels was put in the main event for WM20 to add more star power and to draw more, fearing Benoit vs. HHH wouldn't get as many buys
Michaels didn't have a real reason to be there, but he played his roll in a fantastic match.


WrestleMania 21

Orton vs. HHH was supposed to be the main event, but since Orton wasn't really catching on as a face, they went with Batista, who was getting monster pops then. It ended up for the better since Orton needed shoulder surgery right after WM and couldn't be a proper champion anyways.

There were plans for an Undertaker vs. Angle match at Wrestlemania 21 for the WWE title at one point. That would have been great, at least much much much better than the original Mania 21 title match between jbl and cena. However Michaels/Angle would have never happened if Taker/Angle took place. Orton/Taker would have never happened.

So im glad that Michaels/Angle and Orton/Taker took place at Mania 21.




About the tradition one on one match......The first WM had a tag-team main-event.
WM4 was a tournament but obviously it was one on one.
WM2000 - 4 Way Match
WM20 Triple Threat Match

IMO The tradition of a one on one main event is at best. However i dont mind if its even a triple threat match. 4 way i do mind as its having more competitors involved.
Also the Mania 2000 main event wasnt that good, and the Mania 20 triple threat was great.

At this moment im thinking the WWE are going for either these options as the 2 Mania 22 title matches: (any of these combinations)

Batista/Lesnar WWE Title, HHH/Cena World Title, Orton/Cena(unification) or Orton/Lesnar WWE Title.

Does anyone know of any other WMania planned main events, WMania stories?

It would certainly make you look at some people in a different light, most notably HBK and Hogan.

Stalfos

Some of them didnt take a genius to figure out but thanks anyway.

This one i didnt know and annoyed me cause i always thought booker T is under used.

Also at Wrestlemania 19 the plan was to have Booker T win. It's a real shame about Booker T not winning the belt. From what I read, Booker was supposed to win the belt at WM19, but HHH convinced them the day of WM that he should retain, and away history went. I've heard it from a few places, so I'm not sure of the legitamacy, but really should've happened.

Mr.Nice Guy

Interesting read but I smell BS on some of them, especially WM19 and the idea of Cena being entered in the main event. Cena himself has said that Backlash against Lesnar a month after WM was what put him on the map and, if I remember correctly, he didn't even appear on WM19 as he instead did a rap at the start.

Chong

Stalfos wrote:

Some of them didnt take a genius to figure out but thanks anyway.

This one i didnt know and annoyed me cause i always though booker T is under used.

5 time 5 time lol.

Wacker

With regards to the Wrestlemania 19 main event, knowing the poor shape that Angle's neck was in, I'd have gone with a triple threat match including Chris Benoit. This would have served multiple purposes:

1: It would have done a lot to protect Kurt. His neck was a serious liability, and Lesnar and Benoit could have taken the lions share of the bumps.

2: It would have made the match better. The match was dissappointing, in my opnion. Angle was very limited in what he could do. Also, Benoit is the best wrestler in the world (in my opnion, of course), and his presence would have added a lot.

3: It would have made all sorts of sense in terms of storylines. Benoit had been tagging with Angle a few months back, having a sort of on-and-off feud. They had shared hours of screen time; far more than Angle and Lesnar ever did. At the Royal Rumble, Angle and Benoit had the best match that I have ever seen, and then at No Way Out, the Smackdown main event was Team Angle (all three boys) Vs Lesnar and Benoit. It was Benoit who got the win for the team, tapping Charlie Haas, I think. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to slot him into the main event of Mania.

4: It would have been brilliant for Benoit's career. Benoit went from being mega-over to being nowhere just around this time. At Mania, he teamed with Rhyno against Los Guerreros and Team Angle. That match would have been far better with just two teams. At Backlash, Benoit had NO MATCH, and at Judgement Day, he was part of an eight-man tag that lasted five minuted and jerked the curtain. At Vengeance, he was going after the US title, and at Summerslam, he fought A-Train. He was NOWHERE. In my idea, he didn't have to win the belt at Mania or anything, he could have been a contender (Brando pun intentional!) for the rest of the year and then gone to RAW as he did to win the belt. In fact, his return to the top after the Royal Rumble 2004 seemed a bit out of left field. Had he been almost at the top for a year, it would have been far better, and then they could have safely gone with Triple H Vs Benoit, without needing to add Michaels, who could have fought the Rock. That would have allowed Orton and Foley to have their classic at the appropriate stage.

Thoughts?

Mr.Nice Guy

Wacker wrote:

1: It would have done a lot to protect Kurt. His neck was a serious liability, and Lesnar and Benoit could have taken the lions share of the bumps.

I see your point but from Angle's point of view, he had won a Gold Medal with a broken neck and he felt fit enough to make the match decent so I respect how it actually turned out.

Wacker wrote:

2: It would have made the match better. The match was dissappointing, in my opnion. Angle was very limited in what he could do. Also, Benoit is the best wrestler in the world (in my opnion, of course), and his presence would have added a lot.

Agree that Benoit is the best wrestler in the world. I don't agree that the match was disappointing when you take into account Angle's condition. The only thing that I found disappointing was the botched Shooting Star and the hurried finish but that was Lesnar's fault, not Angle's.

Wacker wrote:

3: It would have made all sorts of sense in terms of storylines. Benoit had been tagging with Angle a few months back, having a sort of on-and-off feud. They had shared hours of screen time; far more than Angle and Lesnar ever did. At the Royal Rumble, Angle and Benoit had the best match that I have ever seen, and then at No Way Out, the Smackdown main event was Team Angle (all three boys) Vs Lesnar and Benoit. It was Benoit who got the win for the team, tapping Charlie Haas, I think. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to slot him into the main event of Mania.

Benoit and Angle had somewhat of a storyline but Lesnar and Benoit hadn't other than the tag match they had. Angle v Lesnar was being built since Armageddon when Lesnar and Angle were on the same page. Also, Angle had got the better of Benoit in that feud so I think the way it turned out made sense.

Wacker wrote:

4: It would have been brilliant for Benoit's career. Benoit went from being mega-over to being nowhere just around this time. At Mania, he teamed with Rhyno against Los Guerreros and Team Angle. That match would have been far better with just two teams. At Backlash, Benoit had NO MATCH, and at Judgement Day, he was part of an eight-man tag that lasted five minuted and jerked the curtain. At Vengeance, he was going after the US title, and at Summerslam, he fought A-Train. He was NOWHERE. In my idea, he didn't have to win the belt at Mania or anything, he could have been a contender (Brando pun intentional!) for the rest of the year and then gone to RAW as he did to win the belt. In fact, his return to the top after the Royal Rumble 2004 seemed a bit out of left field. Had he been almost at the top for a year, it would have been far better, and then they could have safely gone with Triple H Vs Benoit, without needing to add Michaels, who could have fought the Rock. That would have allowed Orton and Foley to have their classic at the appropriate stage.

At Summerslam he didn't face A-Train. He faced Eddie, Tajiri and Rhyno for the US title and it was Taker who faced A-Train. At this point, Eddie was more over than Benoit and it made sense to give Eddie a chance in the spotlight. After Summerslam, Eddie's popularity grew especially after the Smackdown in El Paso. I'm sure Benoit was happy for Eddie to have his chance. Benoit's 2003 wasn't all bad. At Survivor Series, he made Lesnar tap out and he had a rivalry with Heyman which led to him being number 1 in the Rumble and to go and win it. I think the WM20 matches were good and the triple threat was an amazing match. I'm happy with how it turned out and I think Benoit would be as well.

Wacker

I see your point but from Angle's point of view, he had won a Gold Medal with a broken neck and he felt fit enough to make the match decent so I respect how it actually turned out.

Don't get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for Kurt Angle. I think the match was about as could as could be expected from a man who had I believe about 30% of his regular strength in one of his arms (can't remember which). However, it was still not that good a match; would you not agree that it was the worst of their series? Also, there was no gaurantee that it was going to turn out as well as it did. Angle's neck was in bad shape and him taking bad punishment was very risky. Had Benoit been in there, it would have had two baby-faces, who tradtionally take more punishment than heels. Angle could have escaped with taking very few bad bumps.

Benoit and Angle had somewhat of a storyline but Lesnar and Benoit hadn't other than the tag match they had. Angle v Lesnar was being built since Armageddon when Lesnar and Angle were on the same page. Also, Angle had got the better of Benoit in that feud so I think the way it turned out made sense.

Remember, they were ready to come up with a storyline for a Mania match between Benoit and Lesnar. That would have been a hard sell. A triple threat would have been childs play. Remember, pro-wrestling isn't boxing; a guy doesn't lose his title match and instantly slide down the ranks. Angle and Benoit were fighting at Now Way Out, when Angle had beaten him twice in the last month. To protect Angle and to promote Benoit, a good storyline could have been easily written.

At Summerslam he didn't face A-Train. He faced Eddie, Tajiri and Rhyno for the US title and it was Taker who faced A-Train. At this point, Eddie was more over than Benoit and it made sense to give Eddie a chance in the spotlight. After Summerslam, Eddie's popularity grew especially after the Smackdown in El Paso. I'm sure Benoit was happy for Eddie to have his chance. Benoit's 2003 wasn't all bad. At Survivor Series, he made Lesnar tap out and he had a rivalry with Heyman which led to him being number 1 in the Rumble and to go and win it. I think the WM20 matches were good and the triple threat was an amazing match. I'm happy with how it turned out and I think Benoit would be as well.

I stand corrected; I believe Benoit faced A-Train at No Mercy. Even the Summerslam match showed a lack of faith in Benoit; based on the finish of the Vengeance match with Eddie, it clearly should have been Rhyno Vs Benoit. That match never happened, as far as I know, and they were all just put in a fatal four way that wasn't given much time. As far Eddie's popularity passing Benoit's, it wasn't impossible for them to both to get mega-over simultaneously. I remember seeing a sign that said "Eddie stole Benoits push." I think that kind of sums it up, which I think is a pity. As you say, Benoits 2003 wasn't bad; it started fantastically and ended decently. I believe that if it were done my way, it could have been better in the middle, which would necessarily mean that it would have ended better, and he would have been more over for his huge 2004 push.

Mr.Nice Guy

Wacker wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for Kurt Angle. I think the match was about as could as could be expected from a man who had I believe about 30% of his regular strength in one of his arms (can't remember which). However, it was still not that good a match; would you not agree that it was the worst of their series? Also, there was no gaurantee that it was going to turn out as well as it did. Angle's neck was in bad shape and him taking bad punishment was very risky. Had Benoit been in there, it would have had two baby-faces, who tradtionally take more punishment than heels. Angle could have escaped with taking very few bad bumps.

I'll agree it was the worst of their series but I still think the match had enough good spots. Lesnar being turned inside out by a German Suplex, Angle being the first person to kick out of the F-5, the infamous missed shooting star and a decent mat wrestling encounter. Adding Benoit would have made for a good match and no doubt Benoit would have done a great job but I imagine they felt it was worth risking Angle on his own based on the build-up and I think it was a well made risk.

Wacker wrote:

Remember, they were ready to come up with a storyline for a Mania match between Benoit and Lesnar. That would have been a hard sell. A triple threat would have been childs play. Remember, pro-wrestling isn't boxing; a guy doesn't lose his title match and instantly slide down the ranks. Angle and Benoit were fighting at Now Way Out, when Angle had beaten him twice in the last month. To protect Angle and to promote Benoit, a good storyline could have been easily written.

I still think the fans would have been bemused by Benoit's inclusion considering Angle made him tap at the Rumble.

Wacker wrote:

I stand corrected; I believe Benoit faced A-Train at No Mercy. Even the Summerslam match showed a lack of faith in Benoit; based on the finish of the Vengeance match with Eddie, it clearly should have been Rhyno Vs Benoit. That match never happened, as far as I know, and they were all just put in a fatal four way that wasn't given much time. As far Eddie's popularity passing Benoit's, it wasn't impossible for them to both to get mega-over simultaneously. I remember seeing a sign that said "Eddie stole Benoits push." I think that kind of sums it up, which I think is a pity. As you say, Benoits 2003 wasn't bad; it started fantastically and ended decently. I believe that if it were done my way, it could have been better in the middle, which would necessarily mean that it would have ended better, and he would have been more over for his huge 2004 push.

I think the way things were handled between Eddie and Benoit worked out better for Benoit though. Benoit made Lesnar tap at Survivor Series whilst on the same show, Eddie lost a tag match to the Basham Brothers. I agree with you that Benoit could have been handled better in the middle of the year but overall I think his 2003 was a good one.

What do you think of how they're handling Benoit now? I think they're treating him terribly. He doesn't even have a scheduled match for Summerslam.

Doubtful Donkey

Ok - 2 Things I noticed here,

First of all, calling the Honky Tonk Man the worst IC Champ ever is an incredible insult to the man, and the WWE. You might not know it, or realise it, but Wayne Ferris made millions for the WWE. People were so p-ssed with his title reign, so disgusted with how he repeatedly cheated his way out of losing, by every trick in the book, they showed up in DROVES to see him get his arse kicked from one side of the ring to another. And he did. And one way or another, he'd walk out with that title. One the way back to the ring, people threw garbage at him, spat at him - they despised him, and they paid money hoping to see him die.

Now, go watch the first Summerslam. Honkey makes an open challenge for the title, and The Ultimate Warrior runs in and OBLITERATES him in less than 30 seconds and the goddamm roof blows off the arena.

After that, until he left, The Honky Tonk Man insisted on being allowed to put new guys over, in reutrn for so many people being put over him. He is eternally in VKM'S good graces for this, which is why he pops up and now and again - to put people over - and, will probably be in the hall of fame in the future. At a special ceremoney in Memphis for Honky and Jerry Lawler, Hulk Hogan himself paid special tribute to him, saying Honky getting the crowd fired up meant they were fired up when he came out, and it helped sustain his support over the years, and he always appreciated the work of guys like him. If you watch his stuff - you'll see how much of his act the Rock stole, that Carlito stole. Heck, even John Cena


You might not like the Honky Tonk Man, because he was a "bad" wrestler, or because his title reign was "bad" by your definition, but Wayne Ferris is a legend in every sense of the word

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Also, there seems to be a lot of discussion about HHH vs. Booker T at WM19. Now, I'm a big Triple H fan, so I may be a little bit biased, but I've followed his career.

HHH outright didn't want to wrestle Booker T, for several reasons.

First, HHH was insulted and being asked. He felt, rightly, that Booker was not up to his level (This is on the WM 20 DVD, btw - its on that documentary). He felt that Booker didn't match up with him, in terms of popularity, and talent. Certainly the first one is accurate, as Booker hadnt being doing much leading up to the show, and suddenly gets shoved into a feud with the main guy on Raw? Sure. In terms of talent, that was a broader generalisation of the WCW guys, but it rings true.

Furthermore, at the time, Booker was openly talking about retiring, and HHH was worried about putting over a guy who was only going to quit anyway.


Second of all - HHH didn't get the opponent he wanted. He, honest to God, wanted to wrestle Sting. Yes, the clownshoes from WCW. HHH saw the card, with a Smackdown match headlining, The Rock vs. Steve Austin, Vince vs. Hogan, Shawn Micheals vs. Chris Jericho, and frankly, felt he deserved a better oppenent than the guy that did the spinaroonie. So, he asked the WWE to try ang bring in Sting. But, Vince hates Sting, and Sting, the idiot, hates the WWE, so neither side really tried.

HHH was then, duly, stuck with Booker T.

Humperdido.

The idea that Booker was actually going to win the Big Gold Belt came out of nowhere really, and frankly, I have a hard time beliveing it. Booker was prattling on about retiring, and HHH thought it was idiotic to lose to the guy if he was only gonna win it back in a few weeks, so, that was scrapped. Furthermore - the WWE was pushing for a HHH-Kev Nash feud, and they needed the title for that.

Wacker

He is eternally in VKM'S good graces for this, which is why he pops up and now and again - to put people over - and, will probably be in the hall of fame in the future.

I don't think Vince and Wayne have as good a relationship as you think. Do you remember a few years ago when they had that spin-the-wheel, make-the-deal' thing on RAW. Randy Orton was put in a legends match against Sergeant Slaughter, but the original plan was for him to wrestle the Honky Tonk Man, but Wayne refused, because he didn't want to put Orton over like that. That guy has a real attitude these days; if you read interviews with him, he is shockingly negative about many things. He says, for instance, that the Dynamite Kid deserves to be in a wheel-chair.

If you watch his stuff - you'll see how much of his act the Rock stole, that Carlito stole. Heck, even John Cena

I don't buy into that all that much either. The nature of the business dictates that aspects of gimmicks will always be recycled. You wouldn't say that every wrestler who uses a DDT these days (and that is virtually everyone) is stealing from Jake the Snake Roberts. As Kevin Nash once said, if you are to look at it that way, then whoever invented the headlock should be owed a lot of royalties by now. Besides, isn't there something ironic about the idea of people stealing gimmicks from a guy who's gimmick was that he was an Elvis impersonator, or essentially someone who ripped off someone elses gimmick himself?

Doubtful Donkey

It wasn't that I was objecting to wacker, it was gimmick calling him one of the worst IC Champs ever, without understanding his reign.

Mr.Nice Guy

Doubtful Donkey wrote:

HHH saw the card, with a Smackdown match headlining, The Rock vs. Steve Austin, Vince vs. Hogan, Shawn Micheals vs. Chris Jericho, and frankly, felt he deserved a better oppenent than the guy that did the spinaroonie. So, he asked the WWE to try ang bring in Sting. But, Vince hates Sting, and Sting, the idiot, hates the WWE, so neither side really tried.

HHH was then, duly, stuck with Booker T.

Where do you get your facts from? In interviews, Sting has said they were very close to a deal at WM19 and I believe he mentioned wrestling Austin, not Triple H and that the two sides couldn't agree on a deal. Where is the info that Sting hates WWE and vice-versa and that a match with Triple H was on the cards? I find that hard to believe.

Doubtful Donkey

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Where do you get your facts from? In interviews, Sting has said they were very close to a deal at WM19 and I believe he mentioned wrestling Austin, not Triple H and that the two sides couldn't agree on a deal. Where is the info that Sting hates WWE and vice-versa and that a match with Triple H was on the cards? I find that hard to believe.

An interview with HHH from about two years back. Sting was a prick in contract negotiations.

Mr.Nice Guy

Doubtful Donkey wrote:

An interview with HHH from about two years back. Sting was a prick in contract negotiations.

Link?

Doubtful Donkey

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Link?

It was on Off the Record - a Canadian TV sports show. I'm sure it's still transcribed somehere. I had it until until my first blog went kablooey.